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Difference between start and run method in Thread Java Tutorial

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Difference between start and run method in Thread Java Tutorial

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Why do one call s t a r tmethod of thread if s t a r t ( )calls r u n ( ) in turn" or "What is difference by calling s t a r t () over r u n ( ) method in java thread" are two widely popular beginner level multithreading interview question. When a Java programmer s t a r t learning Thread, first thing he learns is to implement thread either overriding r u n ( )method of Thread class or implementing Runnable interface and than calling s t a r t ( )method on thread, but with some experience he finds that s t a r t () method calls r u n ( )method internally either by looking API documentation or just poking around, but many of us just dont care at that time until its been asked in Java Interview. In this Java tutorial we will see What is difference between calling s t a r t ( )method and r u n ( ) method for starting Thread in Java. This article is in continuation of my earlier post on Java multi-threading e.g. Difference between Runnable and Thread in Java and How to solve Producer Consumer problem in Java using B l o c k i n g Q u e u e . If you havent read them already you may find them interesting and useful.

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Difference between s t a r tand r u nin Java Thread

So what is difference between s t a r tand r u nm e t h o d ? Main difference is that when program calls s t a r t () method a new Thread is created and code inside r u n ( )method is executed in new Thread while if you call r u n ( )method directly no new Thread is created and code inside r u n ( )will execute on current Thread. Most of the time calling r u n ( )is bug or programming mistake because caller has intention of calling s t a r t () to create new thread and this error can be detect by many static code coverage tools like findbugs. If you want to perform time consuming task than always call s t a r t () method otherwise your main thread will stuck while performing time consuming task if you call r u n ( )method directly. Another difference between start vs run in Java thread is that you can not call s t a r t ( )method twice on thread object. once started, second call of start() will throw I l l e g a l S t a t e E x c e p t i o n in Java while you can call r u n ( )method twice.

Code Example of s t a r tvs r u nmethod

Here is a simple code example which prints name of Thread which executes r u n ( )method of Runnable task. Its clear that if you call s t a r t ( )method a new Thread executes Runnable task while if you directly call r u n ( )method task, current thread which is main in this case will execute the task. p u b l i cc l a s sS t a r t V s R u n C a l l { p u b l i cs t a t i cv o i dm a i n ( S t r i n ga r g s [ ] ){ / / c r e a t i n gt w ot h r e a d sf o rs t a r ta n dr u nm e t h o dc a l l T h r e a ds t a r t T h r e a d=n e wT h r e a d ( n e wT a s k ( " s t a r t " ) ) ; T h r e a dr u n T h r e a d=n e wT h r e a d ( n e wT a s k ( " r u n " ) ) ; s t a r t T h r e a d . s t a r t ( ) ;/ / c a l l i n gs t a r tm e t h o do fT h r e a d-w i l le x e c u t ei nn e wT h r e a d r u n T h r e a d . r u n ( ) ; / / c a l l i n gr u nm e t h o do fT h r e a d-w i l le x e c u t ei nc u r r e n tT h r e a d } / * *S i m p l eR u n n a b l ei m p l e m e n t a t i o n * / p r i v a t es t a t i cc l a s sT a s ki m p l e m e n t sR u n n a b l e { p r i v a t eS t r i n gc a l l e r ; p u b l i cT a s k ( S t r i n gc a l l e r ) { t h i s . c a l l e r=c a l l e r ; } @ O v e r r i d e p u b l i cv o i dr u n ( ){ S y s t e m . o u t . p r i n t l n ( " C a l l e r :" +c a l l e r+"a n dc o d eo nt h i sT h r e a di se x e c u t e db y :"+T h r e a d . c u r r e n t T h r e a d ( ) . g e t N a m e ( ) ) ;

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Difference between start and run method in Thread Java Tutorial

C a l l e r :s t a r ta n dc o d eo nt h i sT h r e a di se x e c u t e db y:T h r e a d 0 C a l l e r :r u na n dc o d eo nt h i sT h r e a di se x e c u t e db y:m a i n

In Summary only difference between s t a r t () and r u n ( )method in Thread is that s t a r tcreates new thread while run doesn't create any thread and simply execute in current thread like a normal method call. Other Java tutorials on Thread you may like

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