background.sh

#!/bin/bash

function command_1(){
        echo "Starting thread 1..."
        sleep 5
        echo "thread 1 finished."
        return 0
}

function command_2(){
        echo "Starting thread 2..."
        sleep 10
        echo "thread 2 finished."
        return 0
}

function command_3(){
        echo "Starting thread 3..."
        sleep 1
        echo "thread 3 finished."
        return 1
}

export -f command_1
export -f command_2
export -f command_3





jobs=()
jobs+=( "command_1 " )
jobs+=( "command_2 " )
jobs+=( "command_3 " )

echo "${jobs[@]}" \
    | xargs -P 0 -n1 bash -c

echo $?