Concurrency
Concurrency is the ability to run several programs or several parts of a program in parallel. If a time consuming task can be performed asynchronously or in parallel, this improve the throughput and the interactivity of the program.A modern computer has several CPU's or several cores within one CPU. The ability to leverage these multi-cores can be the key for a successful high-volume application. Processes and Threads In concurrent programming, there are two basic units of execution: processes and threads. In the Java programming language, concurrent programming is mostly concerned with threads. However, processes are also important.
Processes
A process has a self-contained execution environment. A process generally has a complete, private set of basic run-time resources; in particular, each process has its own memory space. Processes are often seen as synonymous with programs or applications. However, what the user sees as a single application may in fact be a set of cooperating processes. To facilitate communication between processes, most operating systems support Inter Process Communication (IPC) resources, such as pipes and sockets. IPC is used not just for communication between processes on the same system, but processes on different systems.Threads
Threads are sometimes called lightweight processes. Both processes and threads provide an execution environment, but creating a new thread requires fewer resources than creating a new process.Threads exist within a process — every process has at least one. Threads share the process's resources, including memory and open files. This makes for efficient, but potentially problematic, communication.
Java Multithreading
Every java application has at least one thread – main thread. Although there are so many other threads running in background like memory management, system management, signal processing etc. But from application point of view – main is the first thread and we can create multiple threads from it.Multithreading refers to two or more threads executing concurrently in a single program. A computer single core processor can execute only one thread at a time and time slicing is the OS feature to share processor time between different processes and threads.
Advantages of Using Threads
- PerformanceThreads improve the performance (throughput, computational speed, responsiveness, or some combination of these) of a program.
- Shared Resources An advantage of using multiple threads over using separate processes is that the former share a single address space, all open files, and other resources.
- Potential Simplicity Multiple threads can reduce the complexity of some applications that are inherently suited for threads.
How to create Thread in java
Java provides two ways to create a thread programmatically.- Implementing the java.lang.Runnable interface.
- Extending the java.lang.Thread class.
Java Thread Example by implementing Runnable interface
One way to create a thread in java is to implement the Runnable Interface and then instantiate an object of the class. We need to override the run() method into our class which is the only method that needs to be implemented. The run() method contains the logic of the thread.The procedure for creating threads based on the Runnable interface is as follows:
- A class implements the Runnable interface, providing the run() method that will be executed by the thread. An object of this class is a Runnable object.
- An object of Thread class is created by passing a Runnable object as argument to the Thread constructor. The Thread object now has a Runnable object that implements the run() method.
- The start() method is invoked on the Thread object created in the previous step. The start() method returns immediately after a thread has been spawned.
- The thread ends when the run() method ends, either by normal completion or by throwing an uncaught exception.
class MyThread implements Runnable {
int count;
MyThread() {
count = 0;
}
public void run() {
System.out.println("MyThread starting.");
try {
do {
Thread.sleep(500);
System.out.println("In MyThread, count is " + count);
count++;
} while (count < 5);
} catch (InterruptedException exc) {
System.out.println("MyThread interrupted.");
}
System.out.println("MyThread terminating.");
}
}
class RunnableDemo {
public static void main(String args[]) {
System.out.println("Main thread starting.");
MyThread mt = new MyThread();
Thread newThrd = new Thread(mt);
newThrd.start();
do {
System.out.println("In main thread.");
try {
Thread.sleep(250);
} catch (InterruptedException exc) {
System.out.println("Main thread interrupted.");
}
} while (mt.count != 5);
System.out.println("Main thread ending.");
}
}
Java Thread Example by extending Thread class
The procedure for creating threads based on extending the Thread is as follows:- A class extending the Thread class overrides the run() method from the Thread class to define the code executed by the thread.
- This subclass may call a Thread constructor explicitly in its constructors to initialize the thread, using the super() call.
- The start() method inherited from the Thread class is invoked on the object of the class to make the thread eligible for running.
class MyThread extends Thread {
int count;
MyThread() {
count = 0;
}
public void run() {
System.out.println("MyThread starting.");
try {
do {
Thread.sleep(500);
System.out.println("In MyThread, count is " + count);
count++;
} while (count < 5);
} catch (InterruptedException exc) {
System.out.println("MyThread interrupted.");
}
System.out.println("MyThread terminating.");
}
}
public class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
System.out.println("Main thread starting.");
MyThread mt = new MyThread();
mt.start();
do {
System.out.println("In main thread.");
try {
Thread.sleep(250);
} catch (InterruptedException exc) {
System.out.println("Main thread interrupted.");
}
} while (mt.count != 5);
System.out.println("Main thread ending.");
}
}
Once we start any thread, it’s execution depends on the OS implementation of time slicing and we can’t control their execution. However we can set threads priority but even then it doesn’t guarantee that higher priority thread will be executed first.
Run the above programs multiple times and you will see that there is no pattern of threads start and end.
Difference between implementing Runnable and extending Thread?
One difference between implementing Runnable and extending Thread is that by extending Thread, each of your threads has a unique object associated with it, whereas implementing Runnable, many threads can share the same object instance.A class that implements Runnable is not a thread and just a class. For a Runnable to become a Thread, You need to create an instance of Thread and passing itself in as the target.
In most cases, the Runnable interface should be used if you are only planning to override the run() method and no other Thread methods. This is important because classes should not be subclassed unless the programmer intends on modifying or enhancing the fundamental behavior of the class.
When there is a need to extend a superclass, implementing the Runnable interface is more appropriate than using the Thread class. Because we can extend another class while implementing Runnable interface to make a thread. But if we just extend the Thread class we can't inherit from any other class.
Life Cycle of a Thread
A thread goes through various stages in its life cycle. For example, a thread is born, started, runs, and then dies. Following diagram shows complete life cycle of a thread.
- New: A new thread begins its life cycle in the new state. It remains in this state until the program starts the thread. It is also referred to as a born thread.
- Runnable: After a newly born thread is started, the thread becomes runnable. A thread in this state is considered to be executing its task.
- Waiting: Sometimes, a thread transitions to the waiting state while the thread waits for another thread to perform a task.A thread transitions back to the runnable state only when another thread signals the waiting thread to continue executing.
- Timed waiting: A runnable thread can enter the timed waiting state for a specified interval of time. A thread in this state transitions back to the runnable state when that time interval expires or when the event it is waiting for occurs.
- Terminated: A runnable thread enters the terminated state when it completes its task or otherwise terminates.
Thread Priorities
Every Java thread has a priority that helps the operating system determine the order in which threads are scheduled.Java thread priorities are in the range between MIN_PRIORITY (a constant of 1) and MAX_PRIORITY (a constant of 10). By default, every thread is given priority NORM_PRIORITY (a constant of 5).
Threads with higher priority are more important to a program and should be allocated processor time before lower-priority threads. However, thread priorities cannot guarantee the order in which threads execute and very much platform dependent.
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Source:http://www.tutorialsdesk.com/2014/09/java-multi-threading-tutorial-with.html
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