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Java Threads, Second Edition Review by Ganeshji Marwaha
Comprehensive coverage of multithreading and Java 5 inclusions.
<< Review of the 3rd Edition >>
This book is written for developers who are targeting the second wave of java programs - Intermediate to advanced level programmers will be able to get best value out of this book. Developers who are already familiar with the basics of java may also be able to get some value, but if you are completely new to java, please look elsewhere.
Without any futher ado, i will dive right into the deep end of the pool. This book is partitioned into 4 logical sections, though it is not explicit in the TOC.
1. Important Threading Concepts:
In this section, the author prepares us with the fundamentals of creating and managing a thread, basic synchronization concepts, synchronized keyword, lock mechanism, thread communication using wait-notify and condition-variables, minimal synchronization using volatile keyword and atomic variables, advanced synchronization classes like Barrier, Semaphore, CountdownLatch, etc. Chapters 1 through 6 underwrite this section and this is by-far the best part of the book.
2. Thread Pools/Schedulers:
This section first lectures around how thread scheduling materializes in java and how it is related to the underlying Operating System. Next, you are guided through a tour of Thread Pools and Task Schedulers that will enlighten us with quite a few new classes in java 5. Chapters 9 through 11 cover this section.
3. Threading and other Java APIs:
This section details how the threading API plays with other inbuilt java APIs like Collections, IO and Swing. Chapters 7,8 and 12 cover this section.
4. Misc topics:
Some miscellaneous thread topics like ThreadGroup, Security, Class Loading, Exception Handling and Performance are addressed in this section. Chapters 13, 14, and 15 cover this section.
Though this book wasn't an easy read, i found it extremely encouraging to have ONE comprehensive manual to understand both the threading concepts and the new java 5 inclusions. I recommend this book to anyone who is in the middle of a complex multi-threaded system or wishes to create one.