Question

I have a program where I compile java code a user types into a text field, and then run it. A run the code in a seperate thread, so that the GUI they use to input the source code doesn’t get locked up.

The GUI has an abort button that should stop the thread. My issue is that I need to stop the compiling thread no matter what is going on inside of it, which means I must account for a case where the thread is caught in an infinite loop (due to user error), and it cannot properly end itself using a safe flag. I’ve read up on many solutions that involve using a flag of some kind, but they aren’t available to me because of this looping issue. I need to have the thread stop and the memory it’s using freed (I can’t just let it sit in the background forever, unless that is the only solution left). Any advice or alternative solutions? Hopefully some fresh perspectives could help squash this issue.

Edit:

Here’s a sample bit of user submitted code:

public class RunMe extends SomethingThatRuns {
    public void run() {
        int i = 0;
        while (i = 0) {
            //Prepare to get stuck!
        }
    }
}

I’ll compile this class, and then run it. This is where it will get stuck, and the run() method can never finish, or even loop to check a flag.

Answer 1

You can run it in a new JVM so you can kill it when you want.
Thinking about security this may be a good thing to do too.