Date: 2013apr30
Update: 2025sep18
Language: Java
Q. Java: Best way to make a Java thread
A. You can declare a thread a number of ways. For a thread of non-trivial
size I prefer extending the Thread class. As shown in this full example:
class Demo {
static class MyWonderfulThread extends Thread {
@Override public void run() {
System.out.println("Hello from the thread");
// Do what you want
}
}
public static void main(String []args) { // We start the thread here
MyWonderfulThread thread = new MyWonderfulThread();
thread.start(); // do NOT call run()
System.out.println("Hello from main");
}
}
Output:
Hello from main
Hello from the thread
Compared to other ways, your run() code is indented less.
And you can add a constructor with a parameter, like so:
static class MyWonderfulThread extends Thread {
String greeting;
MyWonderfulThread(String greeting) {
super("MyWonderfulThread"); // Optional but nice for debugging
this.greeting = greeting;
}
@Override public void run() {
// Do what you want
System.out.println(greeting);
}
}
static void startIt() {
MyWonderfulThread thread = new MyWonderfulThread("hello");
thread.start();
}
However if a thread is very small, I would do it like this:
void startIt() {
(new Thread( {
@Override public void run() {
// Do one thing
}
})).start();
}
Use Executor if you want a pool or scheduled thread
https://www.javatpoint.com/java-executorservice