| A thread--sometimes known as an execution context or a lightweight process--is a single sequential flow of control within a process. |
| Definition: |
| A thread is a single sequential flow of control within a program |
| Example: |
| The following program is a simple Java application that creates and starts two independent threads: |
| class TwoThreadsTest { public static void main (String[] args) { new SimpleThread("Jamaica").start(); new SimpleThread("Fiji").start(); } } class SimpleThread extends Thread { public SimpleThread(String str) { super(str); } public void run() { for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { System.out.println(i + " " + getName()); try { sleep((int)(Math.random() * 1000)); } catch (InterruptedException e) { } } System.out.println("DONE! " + getName()); } } |
| A thread is similar to the sequential programs described above: a single thread also has a beginning, an end, a sequence, and at any given time during the runtime of the thread there is a single point of execution. |
 |
 |
 |