Java Language Using ThreadPoolExecutor in MultiThreaded applications. Performing Asynchronous Tasks Where a Return Value Is Needed Using a Callable Class Instance
Example
It is often necessary to execute a long-running task and use the result of that task once it has completed.
In this example, we will create two classes: One which implements the Callable<T> interface (where T is the type we wish to return), and one which contains a main() method.
AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter.java
import lombok.extern.java.Log;
import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
import java.util.concurrent.ThreadLocalRandom;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
@Log
public class AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter implements Callable<Integer> {
private int taskNumber;
public AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter(int taskNumber) {
this.taskNumber = taskNumber;
}
@Override
public Integer call() throws Exception {
int timeout = ThreadLocalRandom.current().nextInt(1, 20);
try {
log.info(String.format("Task %d is sleeping", taskNumber));
TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep(timeout);
log.info(String.format("Task %d is done sleeping", taskNumber));
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
log.warning(e.getMessage());
}
return timeout;
}
}
AsyncExample2.java
import lombok.extern.java.Log;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.Future;
@Log
public class AsyncExample2 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();
List<Future<Integer>> futures = new ArrayList<>();
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++){
Future<Integer> submittedFuture = executorService.submit(new AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter(i));
futures.add(submittedFuture);
}
executorService.shutdown();
while(!futures.isEmpty()){
for(int j = 0; j < futures.size(); j++){
Future<Integer> f = futures.get(j);
if(f.isDone()){
try {
int timeout = f.get();
log.info(String.format("A task just completed after sleeping for %d seconds", timeout));
futures.remove(f);
} catch (InterruptedException | ExecutionException e) {
log.warning(e.getMessage());
}
}
}
}
}
}
Running AsyncExample2.main() resulted in the following output:
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 7 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 8 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 2 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 1 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 4 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 9 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 0 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 6 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 5 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:15 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 3 is sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:16 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 8 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:16 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 1 seconds
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:17 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 2 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:17 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 2 seconds
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:17 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 9 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:17 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 2 seconds
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:19 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 3 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:19 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 4 seconds
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:20 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 0 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:20 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 5 seconds
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:21 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 5 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:21 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 6 seconds
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:25 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 1 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:25 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 10 seconds
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:27 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 6 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:27 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 12 seconds
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:29 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 7 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:29 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 14 seconds
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:31 PM AsyncValueTypeTaskCompleter call
INFO: Task 4 is done sleeping
Dec 28, 2016 3:07:31 PM AsyncExample2 main
INFO: A task just completed after sleeping for 16 seconds
Observations of Note:
There are several things to note in the output above,
- Each call to ExecutorService.submit() returned an instance of Future, which was stored in a list for later use
- Future contains a method called isDone() which can be used to check whether our task has been completed before attempting to check it's return value. Calling the Future.get() method on a Future that is not yet done will block the current thread until the task is complete, potentially negating many benefits gained from performing the task Asynchronously.
- The executorService.shutdown() method was called prior to checking the return values of the Future objects. This is not required, but was done in this way to show that it is possible. The executorService.shutdown() method does not prevent the completion of tasks which have already been submitted to the ExecutorService, but rather prevents new tasks from being added to the Queue.
