Question

I have an application in java, in which i try to ensure that the if anybody exits codes System.exit() in the code , an listener should be called to do some stuff like logging message and releasing the resources …

How can i implement it, any suggestion/approach is welcome.

Answer 1

The Runtime.addShutdownHook method can be used to add a shutdown hook, which is basically a unstarted Thread, which executes on shutdown of the Java Virtual Machine.

However, this is territory that should to be tread carefully, as it is being performed at a very sensitive time of the JVM’s life cycle. From the API Specifications for the Runtime.addShutdownHook method:

Shutdown hooks run at a delicate time
in the life cycle of a virtual machine
and should therefore be coded
defensively. They should, in
particular, be written to be
thread-safe and to avoid deadlocks
insofar as possible.

In any event, be sure to read up a bit on how shutdown hooks work, as they probably should not be approached without some good preparation. Be sure to carefully read the API Specification for the Runtime.addShutdownHook method.

Here’s are a couple articles I found from searching for information for this answer:

• Shutdown Hooks — it shows a little example of how a shutdown hook is added for logging at shutdown.

• Design of the Shutdown Hooks API — addresses some design decisions of shutdown hooks in a question and answer style.