Block 6: Threads 1

Jin Sa

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 1

 Outline of block 6
• Why multi-threads and typical applications
• Defining and creating threads
• An example with two threads
• Life cycle of a thread
• An example with user interface
• Problem with threads
• Synchronisation among threads
12/06/23 Client-server Programming 2
 Why multithreading?
• Most of the java programs you have seen so
far can only do one thing at a time. In the
real world many actions are happening
concurrently.
• Typical applications:
– User interfacing, e.g. One deals with the drawing,
the other deals with user interface
– Many instances of similar behaviour, e.g. a
concurrent server serves many clients
– Many different tasks, e.g. open day simulation

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 3

 Two ways to define threads in Java

• Extending the Thread class

• Implementing the Runnable interface

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 4

 Creating threads by extending the
Thread class
• Define a class, e.g. NewThread, extending the
Thread class
• Override the run() method to tell the system
how the thread will be executed when it runs.
• Create an instance of NewThread,
• Invoke the start() method to tell the system to
start the thread and to execute the run() method.

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 5

Key elements for extending Thread 1
class NewThread extends Thread {
…
//override the run method
public void run() {
//define how the thread runs
…
}
…
}
12/06/23 Client-server Programming 6
 Key element for extending Thread 2
class MyApplication {
…
public void someMethod() {
NewThread mythread=new NewThread();
…
mythread.start();
}
…
}

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 7

 An example: a thread printing its id
repeatedly
class MyThread extends Thread {
private String threadID;
MyThread(String s) { threadID=s; }
public void run() {
for (int i=0;i<200;i++){
System.out.println("Print thread "
+ threadID);
}//for
}//run
} //MyThread

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 8

 An example: two threads printing
their ids
public class SeveralThreads {

public static void main(String [] args) {

MyThread t1,t2;
//create threads
t1 = new MyThread("t1");
t2 = new MyThread("t2");
//start threads
t1.start();
t2.start();
}//main

}//SeveralThreads

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 9

 An example: two threads printing
their ids
Print thread t1
Print thread t2
Print thread t2
Print thread t1
Print thread t1
Print thread t2
Print thread t1
Print thread t2
Print thread t1
Print thread t2
…
Run the Severalthread program in E:\Teaching\Client_server\Run2006-7\Code\ClientServer.
Package threads

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 10

 Life cycle of a thread
• A thread can be in one of these states once it is
created: ready, running, blocked, finish
• A ready thread is runnable, but not running, it
needs allocation of CPU time.
• Common ways for a running thread to become
blocked include: waiting for I/O, sleep
• A common way for a thread to finish is when it
completes its execution of the run() method

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 11

 Creating threads by implementing
the Runnable interface
• Define a class, e.g. NewTask, implementing the
Runnable interface
• implement the run() method to tell the system
how the task will be executed when it runs.
• Create an instance of NewTask, e.g. t1
• The task needs to be executed in a thread. Create
an instance of Thread with t1 as the parameter
• Invoke the start() method of the thread to tell
the system to start the thread.

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 12

 Key elements for implementing
Runnable 1
class NewTask extends AnotherClass
implements Runnable {
…
//implement the run method
public void run() {
//define how the thread runs
…
}
…
}

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 13

 Key elements for implementing
Runnable 2
class MyApplication {
…
public void someMethod() {
NewTask mytask=new NewTask();
Thread mythread=new Thread(mytask);

…
mythread.start();
}
…
}
12/06/23 Client-server Programming 14
 Implementing Runnable or
Extending Thread
• Use Runnable if need to extend another
class
• Even if NewTask does not extend another
class, this is the preferred method for
creating a thread if we only want to define
the run() method, and not using the other
methods in Thread.

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 15

 An example: thread printing its id
using implementing Runnable
class MyTask implements Runnable {
private String threadID;
MyTask(String s) { threadID=s; }
public void run() {
for (int i=0;i<200;i++){
System.out.println("Print thread "
+ threadID);
}//for
}//run
} //MyTask

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 16

 An example: two threads printing their
ids using implementing Runnable
public class SeveralThreads {
public static void main(String[] args) {
//create instances of MyTask
MyTask t1 = new MyTask("t1");
MyTask t2 = new MyTask("t2");
// create Thread instances
Thread tt1=new Thread(t1);
Thread tt2=new Thread(t2);
//start threads
tt1.start();
tt2.start();
}//main
}//SeveralThreads
12/06/23 Client-server Programming 17
Thread synchronisation
 Problem with accessing shared
resources– an example
• The Account class is a bank account, contains
methods such as deposit and withdraw.
• Cardholder is a thread allows the card holder
to deposit £10 repeatedly for 10 times.
• FamilyAccount has a main methods that
creates one instance of an Account, two instances
of Cardholders, both putting money into the same
account.
c1 c2
An instance
deposit(10) of Account
deposit(10)

deposit(10) Balance=50
deposit(10)

deposit(10)
deposit(10)

deposit(10)
deposit(10)
 Problem with accessing shared
resources– an example 1
class Account {
private int balance=0;

public void deposit(int amount) {

//balance=balance+amount;

int tmp = balance;

Thread.sleep(200);
balance = tmp + amount;

System.out.println("Current balance is "+balance);

}
}
 Problem with accessing shared
resources– an example 2
class CardHolder extends Thread{
private Account acc;
private String accName;

CardHolder(Account a,String nm) {

acc=a;
accName=nm; }

public void run() {

for (int i=0;i<10;i++) {
System.out.println(accName+" is depositing
£10 ...");
acc.deposit(10);
}
}//run
}//CardHolder
 Problem with accessing shared
resources– an example 3
class FamilyAccount {

public static void main(String [] args) {

Account ourAccount=new Account();
CardHolder c1 = new CardHolder(ourAccount,"john");
CardHolder c2 = new CardHolder(ourAccount,"Kate");

c1.start();
c2.start();
}
}//FamilyAccount
 Problem with accessing shared
resources– an example 4
• Run FamilyAccount in the E:clientserver/threads (account,cardholder,familyAccount)

• The result should be:

The balance is : £10
The balance is : £20
The balance is : £30
…
The balance is : £200
• But a shared resource may be corrupted if it is
accessed simultaneously by multiple threads
 Problem
• For example, the current balance in ourAccount is £50,
• The c1 thread: tries to deposit £10; loading the current
value, i.e. 50, to the temporary storage place before doing
the arithmetic. The thread is suspended; switches to the c2
thread.
• The c2 thread: tries to deposit £10; loading the current
balance, which is still £50. The thread is then suspended;
resumes the c1 thread,
• Back with the c1 thread: add £10 to the value, i.e. £50, in
the temporary storage; £60 is stored in the attribute
balance; suspend the c1 thread
• Back with the c2 thread: the c2 thread adds £10 to the
current value in the temporary storage that is 50. The result
60 is now stored in the balance attribute.
• Should be 70, not 60!
 Race condition
• The problem is that the two threads (c1 and c2) are
accessing the same resource (account) in a way
that causes a conflict.
• This is a common problem, known as a race
condition, in multithreaded programs.
• A class is said to be thread-safe if an object of the
class does not cause a race condition in the
presence of multiple threads.
• The Account class is not thread-safe at the
moment.
 Synchronized method
• There is a need to protect the shared data.
• Use synchronized methods so that there can be
only one thread executing this method at a time.
• Java guarantees once a thread has gained access to
a synchronized method, it will finish the method
before any other thread gains access to that or any
other synchronized method in that object.
• A synchronised method (implicitly) acquires a
lock on the instance.
 Deposit as a Synchronized
method
class Account {
int balance=0;

public synchronized void deposit(int amount) {

int tmp = balance;

Thread.sleep(200);
balance = tmp + amount;

System.out.println("Current balance is
"+balance);
}
}//Account

• Run the program familyAccount, change the first line of deposit

 Multithreading for user interface
in GUI applications

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 29

 Example: Flashing label
• Press start, program displays a flashing
rectangle until user presses the stop button.
• One thread is tied to display the flashing
rectangle.
• In order to be able to accept user’s input,
need more than one thread.
• Run the FlashStop program. (E:\Teaching\Client_server\Run2006-7\
Code\ClientServer\src\threads)

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 30

 Implementations
• Two classes: FlashStop and FlashRec
• FlashStop deals with the graphical interface and the
interaction with the user
– Presents gui elements (behaves as a Frame)
– Implements the actonPerformed method (behaves as an
ActionListener)
• To start a thread for displaying the “flashing”
• To stop the thread
• FlasRec deals with displaying the “flashing” effect.
– A thread repeatedly sets the background colour to be red/white

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 31

 Flash rectangle 1
class FlashRec extends JPanel implements
Runnable{
private boolean keepgoing=false;
public void run() {
while (keepgoing) {
try {
setBackground(Color.red);
Thread.sleep(800);
setBackground(Color.white);
Thread.sleep(800);
} catch (Exception e) {…}
}//while
}//run
To continue…

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 32

 Flash rectangle 2
public void pleaseStop() {
keepgoing=false;
}
public void pleaseStart(){
keepgoing=true;
}
}//FlashRec
12/06/23 Client-server Programming 33
 FlashStop class 1

public class FlashStop extends JFrame

implements ActionListener
{
private JButton flash=
new JButton(“flash");
private JButton stop=new JButton("stop");
private FlashRec fr;
private Thread recThread;

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 34

 FlashStop class 2
FlashStop() {
setSize(400,200);
fr=new FlashRec();
Container c = getContentPane();
c.add(flash, "North");
start.addActionListener(this);
c.add(stop,"South");
stop.addActionListener(this);
c.add(fr, "Center");//
}//FlashStop

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 35

 FlashStop class 3
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (e.getSource() == start ) {
fr.pleaseStart();
recThread=new Thread(fr);
recThread.start();}
if (e.getSource() ==stop) {
fr.pleaseStop();}
}//actionPerformed

The actual code is slightly more complex.

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 36

 Review
• Understand how to define and create threads in
Java: extends Thread and implement Runnable
• Be able to write simple Java thread applications
• Problem and solution with concurrent thread
• Understand the GUI example and how to deal with
events.

12/06/23 Client-server Programming 37