Example
AsyncTask is an abstract Class and does not inherit the Thread class. It has an abstract method doInBackground(Params... params), which is overridden to perform the task. This method is called from AsyncTask.call().
Executor are part of java.util.concurrent package.
Moreover, AsyncTask contains 2 Executors
THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR
It uses worker threads to execute the tasks parallelly.
public static final Executor THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR = new ThreadPoolExecutor(CORE_POOL_SIZE, MAXIMUM_POOL_SIZE, KEEP_ALIVE, TimeUnit.SECONDS, sPoolWorkQueue, sThreadFactory);
SERIAL_EXECUTOR
It executes the task serially, i.e. one by one.
private static class SerialExecutor implements Executor { }
Both Executors are static, hence only one THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR and one SerialExecutor objects exist, but you can create several AsyncTask objects.
Therefore, if you try to do multiple background task with the default Executor (SerialExecutor), these task will be queue and executed serially.
If you try to do multiple background task with THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR, then they will be executed parallelly.
Example:
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
private Button bt;
private int CountTask = 0;
private static final String TAG = "AsyncTaskExample";
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
bt = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button);
bt.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
BackgroundTask backgroundTask = new BackgroundTask ();
Integer data[] = { ++CountTask, null, null };
// Task Executed in thread pool ( 1 )
backgroundTask.executeOnExecutor(AsyncTask.THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR, data);
// Task executed Serially ( 2 )
// Uncomment the below code and comment the above code of Thread
// pool Executor and check
// backgroundTask.execute(data);
Log.d(TAG, "Task = " + (int) CountTask + " Task Queued");
}
});
}
private class BackgroundTask extends AsyncTask<Integer, Integer, Integer> {
int taskNumber;
@Override
protected Integer doInBackground(Integer... integers) {
taskNumber = integers[0];
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
Log.d(TAG, "Task = " + taskNumber + " Task Running in Background");
publishProgress(taskNumber);
return null;
}
@Override
protected void onPreExecute() {
super.onPreExecute();
}
@Override
protected void onPostExecute(Integer aLong) {
super.onPostExecute(aLong);
}
@Override
protected void onProgressUpdate(Integer... values) {
super.onProgressUpdate(values);
Log.d(TAG, "Task = " + (int) values[0]
+ " Task Execution Completed");
}
}
}
Perform Click on button several times to start a task and see the result.
Task Executed in thread pool(1)
Each task takes 1000 ms to complete.
At t=36s, tasks 2, 3 and 4 are queued and started executing also because they are executing parallelly.
08-02 19:48:35.815: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 1 Task Queued
08-02 19:48:35.815: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 1 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:48:**36.025**: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 2 Task Queued
08-02 19:48:**36.025**: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 2 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:48:**36.165**: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 3 Task Queued
08-02 19:48:**36.165**: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 3 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:48:**36.325**: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 4 Task Queued
08-02 19:48:**36.325**: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 4 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:48:**36.815**: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 1 Task Execution Completed
08-02 19:48:**36.915**: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 5 Task Queued
08-02 19:48:**36.915**: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 5 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:48:37.025: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 2 Task Execution Completed
08-02 19:48:37.165: D/AsyncTaskExample(11693): Task = 3 Task Execution Completed
----------
Comment Task Executed in thread pool (1) and uncomment Task executed Serially (2).
Perform Click on button several times to start a task and see the result.
It is executing the task serially hence every task is started after the current task completed execution. Hence when Task 1's execution completes, only Task 2 starts running in background. Vice versa.
08-02 19:42:57.505: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 1 Task Queued
08-02 19:42:57.505: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 1 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:42:57.675: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 2 Task Queued
08-02 19:42:57.835: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 3 Task Queued
08-02 19:42:58.005: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 4 Task Queued
08-02 19:42:58.155: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 5 Task Queued
08-02 19:42:58.505: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 1 Task Execution Completed
08-02 19:42:58.505: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 2 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:42:58.755: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 6 Task Queued
08-02 19:42:59.295: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 7 Task Queued
08-02 19:42:59.505: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 2 Task Execution Completed
08-02 19:42:59.505: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 3 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:43:00.035: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 8 Task Queued
08-02 19:43:00.505: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 3 Task Execution Completed
08-02 19:43:**00.505**: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 4 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:43:**01.505**: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 4 Task Execution Completed
08-02 19:43:**01.515**: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 5 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:43:**02.515**: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 5 Task Execution Completed
08-02 19:43:**02.515**: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 6 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:43:**03.515**: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 7 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:43:**03.515**: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 6 Task Execution Completed
08-02 19:43:04.515: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 8 Task Running in Background
08-02 19:43:**04.515**: D/AsyncTaskExample(10299): Task = 7 Task Execution Completed
