Java - Thread Latches

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Introduction

A latch makes a group of threads wait until it reaches its terminal state.

Once a latch reaches its terminal state, it lets all threads pass through.

A latch is a one-time object. It cannot be reset and reused.

API

CountDownLatch class from the java.util.concurrent package implements the latch.

The following code represents a helper service and a main service, respectively. The

main service depends on helper services to start.

After all helper services have started, only then can the main service start.

Demo

import java.util.Random;
import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;

class HelperTask extends Thread {
  private int ID;
  private CountDownLatch latch;

  public HelperTask(int ID, CountDownLatch latch) {
    this.ID = ID;
    this.latch = latch;
  }//from   ww w .  java 2s. co m

  public void run() {
    try {
      int startupTime = 3;

      System.out.println("Service #" + ID + " starting in " + startupTime
          + " seconds...");
      Thread.sleep(startupTime * 1000);
      System.out.println("Service #" + ID + " has started...");
    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    } finally {
      // Count down on the latch to indicate that it has started
      this.latch.countDown();
    }
  }
}

class MainTask extends Thread {
  private CountDownLatch latch;

  public MainTask(CountDownLatch latch) {
    this.latch = latch;
  }

  public void run() {
    try {
      System.out
          .println("Main service is waiting for helper services to start...");
      latch.await();
      System.out.println("Main service has started...");
    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }
}

public class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    // Create a count down latch with 2 as its counter
    CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(2);

    // Create and start the main service
    MainTask ms = new MainTask(latch);
    ms.start();
    // Create and start two helper services
    for (int i = 1; i <= 2; i++) {
      HelperTask lhs = new HelperTask(i, latch);
      lhs.start();
    }
  }
}

Result