Question

I am looking in some puzzles for threads and I can’t figure out why the following consistently prints 999999:

class Job extends Thread {  
    private Integer number = 0;  
    public void run() {  
        for (int i = 1; i < 1000000; i++) {  
            number++;  
        }  
    }  
    public Integer getNumber() {  
        return number;  
    }  
}  
public class Test {  
    public static void main(String[] args)   
    throws InterruptedException {  
        Job thread = new Job();  
        thread.start(); 
        synchronized (thread) {  
            thread.wait();  
        }  
        System.out.println(thread.getNumber());  
    }  
}   

There is no notify on the same lock (and spurious wakeup seem to be ignored).
If a thread finishes does a notify get signalled or something?
How come main prints the result and not get “stuck” waiting?

Answer 1

In the Javadoc for Java 7 Thread.join(long)

This implementation uses a loop of this.wait calls conditioned on this.isAlive. As a thread terminates the this.notifyAll method is invoked. It is recommended that applications not use wait, notify, or notifyAll on Thread instances.

Using a Thread directly this way is considered bad practical. Note: wait() could end for any number of reasons, possibly spuriously.

---

Based on a puzzler related to @Voo’s comment. The point is you shouldn’t play with the internal behaviour of Thread as this is more likely to lead to confusion.

public static String getName() {
    return "MyProgram";
}
public static void main(String... args) {
    new Thread() {
       public void run() {
           System.out.println("My program is " + getName());
        }
    }.start();
}

What does this program print?