Taming Java Threads (Paperback)

by Allen Holub (Author)
Key Phrases: critical sections, writer locks, active object, Object-Oriented World, The Perils of Multithreaded Programming, Swing Thread Safety (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
<p>Learning how to write multithreaded applications is the key to taking full advantage of the Java platform. In <i>Taming Java Threads</i>, well-known columnist and Java expert Allen Holub provides Java programmers with the information they need to write real multithreaded programs&emdash;programs with real code. Holub provides an in-depth explanation of how threads work along with information about how to solve common problems such as deadlocks and race conditions. He not only explains common problems, but also provides the uncommon solutions that mark the difference between production-level code and toy demos.</p>

<p>Topics covered in this book include the architecture of threads; the mutex and lock management; condition variables and counting semaphores; timers, alarms, and swing thread safety; observers and multicasters; singletons, critical sessions, and reader/writer locks; threads in an object-oriented world; and object-oriented threading architectures.</p>

<p>While it is essential to build support for threading into a Java program from the very beginning, most books on the subjects of Java-UI construction and Java networking barely touch on threading topics. Along with being a basic Java reference, this book is a must-read for any Java developer.</p>

From the Author
Allen Holub is a design consultant, programmer, educator and author specializing in Object-Oriented Design, Java, C++, and systems programming. A recognized authority in Java programming, he has worked in the computer field since 1979 and was an early adopter of Java - programming in it since 1995. At the time of this publication, Holub is a contributing editor for JavaWorld, and he is a popular columnist appearing in many computer magazines including: Dr. Dobb's Journal, Microsoft Systems Journal, Programmers Journal, BYTE, Windows Tech Journal, Mac Tech Journal, and C Gazette.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Apress (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893115100
• ISBN-13: 978-1893115101
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #481,516 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All meat, no potatos..., June 10, 2000

By A Customer

A book like this is overdue. It fills the gap between dry academic books on concurrency and light-weight books that just repeat the spec. The book is directed at experienced java programmers who want to do threads the right way. It addresses how to solve classic deadlock and synchronization problems with extremely practical java code and techniques. This book is clearly written and it contains lots of well documented code. If you write threaded code, you should get this book.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Assumes you know about threads already, December 1, 2003

By A Customer

What it is: a brief introduction to threads, and then a lot of strategies for re-implementing some of the thread-related classes that Sun provides (or fails to provide). If you are running up against the limitations of Sun's thread-related code and want to re-implement some of it, this book might be just what you're looking for. If you want to learn a lot about threads and how to use them correctly, another book might be better.

What I liked: I found the writing to be relatively clear and concise. I didn't like much else about the book, but that's probably because I was really looking for a different type of book.

What I didn't like: the author spends a lot of time complaining about things, some relating to threading and some not. I really don't care about the author's opinion of whether Sun should have made the default access for a method to be "package". The author comes across as a whiner because of all this complaining. Also, a big chunk of the book is taken up by copyright notices he sprinkles throughout his code. Finally, he doesn't use Sun's code style conventions. There is a reason Sun created these conventions: it's so all Java code would look similar and the reader doesn't get slowed down by an unfamiliar format. It doesn't matter so much for private code, but for publishing code in a book, there's no excuse for using a different style. (And of course the author wastes a few paragraphs complaining about Sun's code style too.)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely enlightening., May 21, 2001

By	Amit Bhati (MN, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nearly a decade ago I had read Alan's 'Compiler Design in C' book, which was a surreal experience in learning from someone's self evident mastery of putting theory to practice. Taming Java Threads does the same for me. There is no other book (I repeat) on the market, on the topic of multithreaded programming in Java, which is as succinct, incisive and authoritative. A LOT MANY MORE people should be following his advise, than actually do.

Be warned that the writing style and level of discussion essentially assume that you do have a fair flair for all things Java and Object-Oriented. (Also, from years of suffering sustained abuse, I have become impervious to the opinionated, ideosynchratic approaches of authors living in or near Berkeley, CA. Your digestion may vary. OTOH, I do like authors who pick a problem and systematically club it to death!)

My only lament? (;-)) Life would be a lot easier for many of us, if those repetitive copyright statements did not exist. Purely on the merit of his serious contribution here, I am refraining from rating this book based upon my deep disagreemt with his sentiment in this regard. Frankly, I wonder what I would be able to do, or not, if many other books in my book shelf had taken the same approach. Remove them in the 2nd edition, please.

Typesetting is very bland. (Hey, pick up some TeX, Alan!)

-a