Thread Priorities in Java

by

In Java, threads can be assigned priorities that determine how the operating system should allocate CPU time to them. Higher priority threads are more likely to be given CPU time before lower priority threads. However, it’s important to note that the actual behavior of thread priorities can vary across operating systems and even within the same operating system, depending on the version and other factors.

By default, newly created threads are given the same priority as the thread that created them. However, we can change a thread’s priority using the setPriority method, which takes an integer value between 1 and 10 as an argument, with 1 being the lowest priority and 10 being the highest.

Here is an example of how to use the setPriority method:

public class ThreadPriorityExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Thread t1 = new Thread(() -> {
            for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
                System.out.println("Thread 1: " + i);
                try {
                    Thread.sleep(500);
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }
            }
        });
        t1.setPriority(Thread.MIN_PRIORITY);
        
        Thread t2 = new Thread(() -> {
            for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
                System.out.println("Thread 2: " + i);
                try {
                    Thread.sleep(500);
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }
            }
        });
        t2.setPriority(Thread.MAX_PRIORITY);
        
        t1.start();
        t2.start();
    }
}

In this example, we created two threads with different priorities using the Thread class’s MIN_PRIORITY and MAX_PRIORITY constants. The threads simply print out their names and a counter, and then sleep for half a second.

If we run this code, we might see output similar to the following:

Thread 2: 0
Thread 1: 0
Thread 2: 1
Thread 1: 1
Thread 2: 2
Thread 1: 2
Thread 2: 3
Thread 1: 3
Thread 2: 4
Thread 1: 4

As we can see, the higher priority thread (Thread 2) is more likely to be given CPU time and is able to print more messages. However, the exact behavior will depend on the operating system and other factors.

It’s generally a good idea to use thread priorities sparingly, as relying too heavily on them can lead to unpredictable behavior. In addition, setting a thread’s priority too high can prevent lower priority threads from running, leading to problems such as deadlocks.

Instead of relying on thread priorities, it’s often better to use other concurrency constructs such as java.util.concurrent package’s Executor framework or the synchronized keyword to synchronize access to shared resources.

It’s also worth noting that some Java virtual machines (JVMs) may not support thread priorities, in which case the setPriority method will have no effect. In these cases, all threads will have the same priority and the operating system’s scheduling policies will be used to determine which thread should run next. While thread priorities can be useful in some cases, it’s important to use them with caution and consider other concurrency constructs as well.

In the example above, we used the MIN_PRIORITY and MAX_PRIORITY constants to set the thread priorities. However, we can also use any integer value between 1 and 10 as the priority. For example, the following code would set the priority of a thread to 5:

Thread t = new Thread(() -> {
    // code goes here
});
t.setPriority(5);

Keep in mind that using values outside of the range of 1 to 10 may cause an IllegalArgumentException to be thrown.

It’s also worth noting that the priority of a thread does not guarantee that it will always be given CPU time over other threads. It simply provides a hint to the operating system about which threads should be given priority. The actual behavior can vary and is ultimately up to the operating system’s scheduling policies.

Conclusion

Thread priorities can be a useful tool for controlling how threads are scheduled by the operating system, but it’s important to use them with caution and consider other concurrency constructs as well.

Related Posts