Aaargh! Still Weak on Threads

[Pam Doucette]

I'm still having trouble with threads. What happens if a subclass of Thread overrides the start() method?
Can anyone point me to any good on-line material on Threads so I can finally GET this!?
Thanks.

[Sean Casey]

I suppose that it would depend on how you override the start method. But, you're not supposed to override it. You're supposed to override the run method: public void run();

[Ajith Kallambella]

Yes, you're not supposed to override it. However, if you do, it doesn't seem to do any harm...

class MyThread extends Thread
{

public void start()
{
System.out.println( "Inside overridden start method...");
super.start();
}

public void run()
{
System.out.println( "MyThread running...");
}

}
public class StartOverrideDemo 
{

public static void main ( String[] s)
{
MyThread t = new MyThread();
t.start();
}
}

When you comment out the call to super.start(), the run() method will not be called. Other wise it works fine......

[David Wake]

The start() method in Thread tells the Thread Scheduler to call the Thread's run() method. It is OK to override this in a subclass. If your overriden method does not include a call to super.start() then no Thread-like behavior will occur, and start() will behave like any other method.
Similarly, Thread's run() is defined but does nothing. So if you don't override the run() method in a subclass of thread, no errors will occur but the thread will do nothing.

[Jane Griscti]

Hi Pam,
Here are some links to online articles on Threads
Exploring Java, Chapter 6, Threads
Sun tutorial on Threads
Beware the daemons
IBM Redbook: Thin-Client Programming, Introduction to Threads (PDF)
Hope they help.
------------------
Jane Griscti
Sun Certified Programmer for the Java� 2 Platform

[Pam Doucette]

Huge help. Thanks to all. I've played around with the code, too. Nothing beats first hand experience!