Section 14.8 Chapter Summary
Subsection 14.8.1 Technical Terms
| asynchronous | monitor | ready queue |
| blocked | multitasking | round-robin scheduling |
| busy waiting | multithreaded | scheduling algorithm |
| concurrent | mutual exclusion | task |
| critical section | priority scheduling | thread |
| dispatched | producer/consumer model | thread life cycle |
| fetch-execute cycle | quantum | time slicing |
| lock | queue |
Subsection 14.8.2 Important Points
- A sequential computer with a single central processing unit (CPU) can execute only one machine instruction at a time. A parallel computer uses multiple CPUs operating simultaneously to execute more than one instruction at a time.
- Each CPU uses a fetch-execute cycle to retrieve the next machine instruction from memory and execute it. The cycle is under the control of the CPU’s internal clock, which typically runs at several hundred megahertz—where 1 megahertz (MHz) is 1 million cycles per second. Time slicing is the technique whereby several threads can share a single CPU over a given time period. Each thread is given a small slice of the CPU’s time under the control of some kind of scheduling algorithm.
- In round-robin scheduling, each thread is given an equal slice of time, in a first-come–first-served order. In priority scheduling, higher-priority threads are allowed to run before lower-priority threads are run.
- There are generally two ways of creating threads in a program. One is to create a subclass of
Threadand implement arun()method. The other is to create aThreadinstance and pass it aRunnableobject—that is, an object that implementsrun(). - The
sleep()method removes a thread from the CPU for a determinate length of time, giving other threads a chance to run. - The
setPriority()method sets a thread’s priority. Higher-priority threads have more and longer access to the CPU. - Threads are asynchronous. Their timing and duration on the CPU are highly sporadic and unpredictable. In designing threaded programs, you must be careful not to base your algorithm on any assumptions about the threads’ timing.
- To improve the responsiveness of interactive programs, you could give compute-intensive tasks, such as drawing lots of dots, to a lower-priority thread or to a thread that sleeps periodically.
- A thread’s life cycle consists of ready, running, waiting, sleeping, and blocked states. Threads start in the ready state and are dispatched to the CPU by the scheduler, an operating system program. If a thread performs an I/O operation, it blocks until the I/O is completed. If it voluntarily sleeps, it gives up the CPU.
- According to the producer/consumer model, two threads share a resource, one serving to produce the resource and the other to consume the resource. Their cooperation must be carefully synchronized.
- An object that contains
synchronizedmethods is known as a monitor. Such objects ensure that only one thread at a time can execute a synchronized method. The object is locked until the thread completes the method or voluntarily sleeps. This is one way to ensure mutually exclusive access to a resource by a collection of cooperating threads. - The
synchronizedqualifier can also be used to designate a method as a critical section, whose execution should not be preempted by one of the other cooperating threads. - In designing multithreaded programs, it is useful to assume that if a thread can be interrupted at a certain point, it will be interrupted there. Thread coordination should never be left to chance.
- One way of coordinating two or more cooperating threads is to use the
wait/notifycombination. One thread waits for a resource to be available, and the other thread notifies when a resource becomes available.
Solutions 14.8.3 Solutions to Self-Study Exercises
14.3 From the Java Library: java.lang.Thread
14.3.1 The Runnable Interface
Self-Study Exercise
14.3.4 Forcing Threads to Sleep
Self-Study Exercises
14.3.4.1. Equal Priority.
14.3.4.2. Thread Sleep.
14.3.4.3. Garbage collection.
14.4 Thread States and Life Cycle
14.4.1 Thread Control
Self-Study Exercise
14.4.1.1. Thread Scheduling.
14.5 Using Threads to Improve Interface Responsiveness
14.5.8 Advantages of Multithreaded Design
Self-Study Exercises
14.5.8.1. Minimum Priority.
14.5.8.2. Round robin scheduling.
14.6 CASE STUDY: Cooperating Threads
14.6.3 Design: The TakeANumberClass
Self-Study Exercise
14.6.3.1. Mutual exclusion.
14.6.10 Creating a Critical Section
Self-Study Exercise
14.6.10.1. Critical Sections.
14.6.12 The wait/notify Mechanism
Self-Study Exercise
14.6.12.1. Busy Waiting.
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