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A snapshot of three copies of an applet that animates different sorting algorithms is shown in the following figure. No, this chapter is not about sorting algorithms. But these applets do provide a visual aid to understanding a powerful capability of the Java platform — threads.
This chapter has been updated to reflect features and conventions of the latest release, JDK 5.0. If you notice any errors or omissions (or something you really like), please tell us.
Bidirectional Bubble sort Bubble sort Quick sortStart each of the applets, one by one, by clicking on them with the mouse. You can see each one working its way through the data, sorting it, with shorter lines on the top and longer lines on the bottom. While the applets are sorting, also notice that you can scroll the page or bring up one of your browser's panels; all this is due to threads.
Note: If you don't see the applet running above, you need to install Java Plug-in, which happens automatically when you install the J2SE JRE or JDK. This applet requires JDK 5.0 or later. You can find more information in the Java Plug-in home page.A thread — sometimes called an execution context or a lightweight process — is a single sequential flow of control within a program. You use threads to isolate tasks. When you run one of these sorting applets, it creates a thread that performs the sort operation. Each thread is a sequential flow of control within the same program (the browser). Each sort operation runs independently from the others but at the same time.
What Is a Thread?
Using the Timer and TimerTask Classes
Subclassing Thread and Overriding run
Implementing the Runnable Interface
The Life Cycle of a Thread
Thread Scheduling
Synchronizing Threads
Thread Pools
Summary
Questions and Exercises: Threads
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