Sebastopol, CA--Java's threading system is quite simple--relative to other threading systems. In earlier versions of Java, this simplicity came with tradeoffs: some of the advanced features in other threading systems were not available in Java. Java 2 Standard Edition version 5.0 (J2SE 5.0) changes all that by providing a large number of new thread-related classes that make the task of writing multithreaded programs that much easier.
The new Java Threads, Third Edition (O'Reilly, US $39.95) by Scott Oaks and Henry Wong shows readers how to take full advantage of Java's threading facilities and brings them up to date with the watershed changes in J2SE 5.0. The book provides a step-by-step approach to understanding and mastering the art of programming with threads. According to Java experts Oaks and Wong, their book will teach readers how to use the threading tools in Java to perform the basic tasks of threaded programming and how to extend them to perform more advanced tasks for more complex programs.
Thoroughly expanded and revised, this third edition incorporates the concurrency utilities from java.util.concurrent throughout. New chapters cover thread performance, using threads with Swing, threads and Collection classes, thread pools, and threads and I/O (traditional, new, and interrupted). Developers who cannot yet deploy J2SE 5.0 can use thread utilities provided in the appendix to achieve similar functionality with earlier versions of Java.
Topics include: -Lock starvation and deadlock detection -Atomic classes and minimal synchronization (J2SE 5.0) -Programmatically controlled locks and condition variables (J2SE 5.0) -Thread performance and security -Thread pools (J2SE 5.0) -Thread groups -Platform-specific thread scheduling -Task schedulers (J2SE 5.0) -Parallelizing loops for multiprocessor machines
For programmers of all levels--from those who are just learning to use threads within Java programs to those eager to exploit the many new features of Java to write even more effective and more complex programs--Java Threads, Third Edition will prove indispensable.
Praise for the previous editions:"If you are new to Java programming and have yet to conquer threads, Java Threads is an excellent resource. You'll get a look into the basics of Java threading, and learn the techniques necessary to get your programs to function properly in a multithreaded world. Five stars"
--John Zukowski, Java World, March 2001
"This is a good book, and certainly, if you're using threads in Java non-trivially then you should have this book. Otherwise, borrow a copy and read the first half to make yourself aware of the threading issues in Java. Even better, think how your code affects others; the section on mixing threads with thread unsafe classes should make you aware of the wider issues surrounding your code, and hopefully, you'll produce well-behaved classes that will be easily multi-threaded if the need arises? Do you use the collections? Think hard..."
--Steve Cornish, C Vu, September 1999"A very useful well-written reference suitable for Java systems developers and as a second-level text for students on computing science and IT-oriented courses. Highly recommended!"
--Brian Bamer, C Vu, January 1998Further reviews of earlier editions can be found at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/jthreads2/reviews.html
Additional Resources:
- Chapter 5, "Minimal Synchronization Techniques"
- More information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bios, and samples
- A cover graphic in JPEG format
Java Threads, Third Edition
Scott Oaks and Henry Wong
ISBN 0-596-00782-5, 340 pages, $39.95 US, $57.95 CA
order@oreilly.com
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