Class ForkJoinTask<V>
- java.lang.Object
-
- java.util.concurrent.ForkJoinTask<V>
- All Implemented Interfaces:
-
Serializable
,Future<V>
- Direct Known Subclasses:
-
CountedCompleter
,RecursiveAction
,RecursiveTask
public abstract class ForkJoinTask<V> extends Object implements Future<V>, Serializable
Abstract base class for tasks that run within a ForkJoinPool
. A ForkJoinTask
is a thread-like entity that is much lighter weight than a normal thread. Huge numbers of tasks and subtasks may be hosted by a small number of actual threads in a ForkJoinPool, at the price of some usage limitations.
A "main" ForkJoinTask
begins execution when it is explicitly submitted to a ForkJoinPool
, or, if not already engaged in a ForkJoin computation, commenced in the ForkJoinPool.commonPool()
via fork()
, invoke()
, or related methods. Once started, it will usually in turn start other subtasks. As indicated by the name of this class, many programs using ForkJoinTask
employ only methods fork()
and join()
, or derivatives such as invokeAll
. However, this class also provides a number of other methods that can come into play in advanced usages, as well as extension mechanics that allow support of new forms of fork/join processing.
A ForkJoinTask
is a lightweight form of Future
. The efficiency of ForkJoinTask
s stems from a set of restrictions (that are only partially statically enforceable) reflecting their main use as computational tasks calculating pure functions or operating on purely isolated objects. The primary coordination mechanisms are fork()
, that arranges asynchronous execution, and join()
, that doesn't proceed until the task's result has been computed. Computations should ideally avoid synchronized
methods or blocks, and should minimize other blocking synchronization apart from joining other tasks or using synchronizers such as Phasers that are advertised to cooperate with fork/join scheduling. Subdividable tasks should also not perform blocking I/O, and should ideally access variables that are completely independent of those accessed by other running tasks. These guidelines are loosely enforced by not permitting checked exceptions such as IOExceptions
to be thrown. However, computations may still encounter unchecked exceptions, that are rethrown to callers attempting to join them. These exceptions may additionally include RejectedExecutionException
stemming from internal resource exhaustion, such as failure to allocate internal task queues. Rethrown exceptions behave in the same way as regular exceptions, but, when possible, contain stack traces (as displayed for example using ex.printStackTrace()
) of both the thread that initiated the computation as well as the thread actually encountering the exception; minimally only the latter.
It is possible to define and use ForkJoinTasks that may block, but doing so requires three further considerations: (1) Completion of few if any other tasks should be dependent on a task that blocks on external synchronization or I/O. Event-style async tasks that are never joined (for example, those subclassing CountedCompleter
) often fall into this category. (2) To minimize resource impact, tasks should be small; ideally performing only the (possibly) blocking action. (3) Unless the ForkJoinPool.ManagedBlocker
API is used, or the number of possibly blocked tasks is known to be less than the pool's ForkJoinPool.getParallelism()
level, the pool cannot guarantee that enough threads will be available to ensure progress or good performance.
The primary method for awaiting completion and extracting results of a task is join()
, but there are several variants: The Future.get()
methods support interruptible and/or timed waits for completion and report results using Future
conventions. Method invoke()
is semantically equivalent to fork(); join()
but always attempts to begin execution in the current thread. The "quiet" forms of these methods do not extract results or report exceptions. These may be useful when a set of tasks are being executed, and you need to delay processing of results or exceptions until all complete. Method invokeAll
(available in multiple versions) performs the most common form of parallel invocation: forking a set of tasks and joining them all.
In the most typical usages, a fork-join pair act like a call (fork) and return (join) from a parallel recursive function. As is the case with other forms of recursive calls, returns (joins) should be performed innermost-first. For example, a.fork();
b.fork(); b.join(); a.join();
is likely to be substantially more efficient than joining a
before b
.
The execution status of tasks may be queried at several levels of detail: Future.isDone()
is true if a task completed in any way (including the case where a task was cancelled without executing); isCompletedNormally()
is true if a task completed without cancellation or encountering an exception; Future.isCancelled()
is true if the task was cancelled (in which case getException()
returns a CancellationException
); and isCompletedAbnormally()
is true if a task was either cancelled or encountered an exception, in which case getException()
will return either the encountered exception or CancellationException
.
The ForkJoinTask class is not usually directly subclassed. Instead, you subclass one of the abstract classes that support a particular style of fork/join processing, typically RecursiveAction
for most computations that do not return results, RecursiveTask
for those that do, and CountedCompleter
for those in which completed actions trigger other actions. Normally, a concrete ForkJoinTask subclass declares fields comprising its parameters, established in a constructor, and then defines a compute
method that somehow uses the control methods supplied by this base class.
Method join()
and its variants are appropriate for use only when completion dependencies are acyclic; that is, the parallel computation can be described as a directed acyclic graph (DAG). Otherwise, executions may encounter a form of deadlock as tasks cyclically wait for each other. However, this framework supports other methods and techniques (for example the use of Phaser
, helpQuiesce()
, and complete(V)
) that may be of use in constructing custom subclasses for problems that are not statically structured as DAGs. To support such usages, a ForkJoinTask may be atomically tagged with a short
value using setForkJoinTaskTag(short)
or compareAndSetForkJoinTaskTag(short, short)
and checked using getForkJoinTaskTag()
. The ForkJoinTask implementation does not use these protected
methods or tags for any purpose, but they may be of use in the construction of specialized subclasses. For example, parallel graph traversals can use the supplied methods to avoid revisiting nodes/tasks that have already been processed. (Method names for tagging are bulky in part to encourage definition of methods that reflect their usage patterns.)
Most base support methods are final
, to prevent overriding of implementations that are intrinsically tied to the underlying lightweight task scheduling framework. Developers creating new basic styles of fork/join processing should minimally implement protected
methods exec()
, setRawResult(V)
, and getRawResult()
, while also introducing an abstract computational method that can be implemented in its subclasses, possibly relying on other protected
methods provided by this class.
ForkJoinTasks should perform relatively small amounts of computation. Large tasks should be split into smaller subtasks, usually via recursive decomposition. As a very rough rule of thumb, a task should perform more than 100 and less than 10000 basic computational steps, and should avoid indefinite looping. If tasks are too big, then parallelism cannot improve throughput. If too small, then memory and internal task maintenance overhead may overwhelm processing.
This class provides adapt
methods for Runnable
and Callable
, that may be of use when mixing execution of ForkJoinTasks
with other kinds of tasks. When all tasks are of this form, consider using a pool constructed in asyncMode.
ForkJoinTasks are Serializable
, which enables them to be used in extensions such as remote execution frameworks. It is sensible to serialize tasks only before or after, but not during, execution. Serialization is not relied on during execution itself.
- Since:
- 1.7
- See Also:
- Serialized Form
Constructor Summary
Constructor | Description |
---|---|
ForkJoinTask() |
Method Summary
Modifier and Type | Method | Description |
---|---|---|
static ForkJoinTask<?> | adapt(Runnable runnable) | Returns a new |
static <T> ForkJoinTask<T> | adapt(Runnable runnable,
T result) | Returns a new |
static <T> ForkJoinTask<T> | adapt(Callable<? extends T> callable) | Returns a new |
boolean | cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfRunning) | Attempts to cancel execution of this task. |
boolean | compareAndSetForkJoinTaskTag(short expect,
short update) | Atomically conditionally sets the tag value for this task. |
void | complete(V value) | Completes this task, and if not already aborted or cancelled, returning the given value as the result of subsequent invocations of |
void | completeExceptionally(Throwable ex) | Completes this task abnormally, and if not already aborted or cancelled, causes it to throw the given exception upon |
protected abstract boolean | exec() | Immediately performs the base action of this task and returns true if, upon return from this method, this task is guaranteed to have completed normally. |
ForkJoinTask<V> | fork() | Arranges to asynchronously execute this task in the pool the current task is running in, if applicable, or using the |
V | get() | Waits if necessary for the computation to complete, and then retrieves its result. |
V | get(long timeout,
TimeUnit unit) | Waits if necessary for at most the given time for the computation to complete, and then retrieves its result, if available. |
Throwable | getException() | Returns the exception thrown by the base computation, or a |
short | getForkJoinTaskTag() | Returns the tag for this task. |
static ForkJoinPool | getPool() | Returns the pool hosting the current thread, or |
static int | getQueuedTaskCount() | Returns an estimate of the number of tasks that have been forked by the current worker thread but not yet executed. |
abstract V | getRawResult() | Returns the result that would be returned by |
static int | getSurplusQueuedTaskCount() | Returns an estimate of how many more locally queued tasks are held by the current worker thread than there are other worker threads that might steal them, or zero if this thread is not operating in a ForkJoinPool. |
static void | helpQuiesce() | Possibly executes tasks until the pool hosting the current task is quiescent. |
static boolean | inForkJoinPool() | Returns |
V | invoke() | Commences performing this task, awaits its completion if necessary, and returns its result, or throws an (unchecked) |
static <T extends ForkJoinTask<?>> | invokeAll(Collection<T> tasks) | Forks all tasks in the specified collection, returning when |
static void | invokeAll(ForkJoinTask<?>... tasks) | Forks the given tasks, returning when |
static void | invokeAll(ForkJoinTask<?> t1,
ForkJoinTask<?> t2) | Forks the given tasks, returning when |
boolean | isCompletedAbnormally() | Returns |
boolean | isCompletedNormally() | Returns |
V | join() | Returns the result of the computation when it is done. |
protected static ForkJoinTask<?> | peekNextLocalTask() | Returns, but does not unschedule or execute, a task queued by the current thread but not yet executed, if one is immediately available. |
protected static ForkJoinTask<?> | pollNextLocalTask() | Unschedules and returns, without executing, the next task queued by the current thread but not yet executed, if the current thread is operating in a ForkJoinPool. |
protected static ForkJoinTask<?> | pollSubmission() | If the current thread is operating in a ForkJoinPool, unschedules and returns, without executing, a task externally submitted to the pool, if one is available. |
protected static ForkJoinTask<?> | pollTask() | If the current thread is operating in a ForkJoinPool, unschedules and returns, without executing, the next task queued by the current thread but not yet executed, if one is available, or if not available, a task that was forked by some other thread, if available. |
void | quietlyComplete() | Completes this task normally without setting a value. |
void | quietlyInvoke() | Commences performing this task and awaits its completion if necessary, without returning its result or throwing its exception. |
void | quietlyJoin() | Joins this task, without returning its result or throwing its exception. |
void | reinitialize() | Resets the internal bookkeeping state of this task, allowing a subsequent |
short | setForkJoinTaskTag(short newValue) | Atomically sets the tag value for this task and returns the old value. |
protected abstract void | setRawResult(V value) | Forces the given value to be returned as a result. |
boolean | tryUnfork() | Tries to unschedule this task for execution. |
Methods declared in class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
Methods declared in interface java.util.concurrent.Future
isCancelled, isDone
Constructor Detail
ForkJoinTask
public ForkJoinTask()
Method Detail
fork
public final ForkJoinTask<V> fork()
Arranges to asynchronously execute this task in the pool the current task is running in, if applicable, or using the ForkJoinPool.commonPool()
if not inForkJoinPool()
. While it is not necessarily enforced, it is a usage error to fork a task more than once unless it has completed and been reinitialized. Subsequent modifications to the state of this task or any data it operates on are not necessarily consistently observable by any thread other than the one executing it unless preceded by a call to join()
or related methods, or a call to Future.isDone()
returning
true
.
- Returns:
-
this
, to simplify usage
join
public final V join()
Returns the result of the computation when it is done. This method differs from get()
in that abnormal completion results in RuntimeException
or Error
, not ExecutionException
, and that interrupts of the calling thread do not cause the method to abruptly return by throwing InterruptedException
.
- Returns:
- the computed result
invoke
public final V invoke()
Commences performing this task, awaits its completion if necessary, and returns its result, or throws an (unchecked) RuntimeException
or Error
if the underlying computation did so.
- Returns:
- the computed result
invokeAll
public static void invokeAll(ForkJoinTask<?> t1, ForkJoinTask<?> t2)
Forks the given tasks, returning when isDone
holds for each task or an (unchecked) exception is encountered, in which case the exception is rethrown. If more than one task encounters an exception, then this method throws any one of these exceptions. If any task encounters an exception, the other may be cancelled. However, the execution status of individual tasks is not guaranteed upon exceptional return. The status of each task may be obtained using getException()
and related methods to check if they have been cancelled, completed normally or exceptionally, or left unprocessed.
- Parameters:
-
t1
- the first task -
t2
- the second task - Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if any task is null
invokeAll
public static void invokeAll(ForkJoinTask<?>... tasks)
Forks the given tasks, returning when isDone
holds for each task or an (unchecked) exception is encountered, in which case the exception is rethrown. If more than one task encounters an exception, then this method throws any one of these exceptions. If any task encounters an exception, others may be cancelled. However, the execution status of individual tasks is not guaranteed upon exceptional return. The status of each task may be obtained using getException()
and related methods to check if they have been cancelled, completed normally or exceptionally, or left unprocessed.
- Parameters:
-
tasks
- the tasks - Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if any task is null
invokeAll
public static <T extends ForkJoinTask<?>> Collection<T> invokeAll(Collection<T> tasks)
Forks all tasks in the specified collection, returning when isDone
holds for each task or an (unchecked) exception is encountered, in which case the exception is rethrown. If more than one task encounters an exception, then this method throws any one of these exceptions. If any task encounters an exception, others may be cancelled. However, the execution status of individual tasks is not guaranteed upon exceptional return. The status of each task may be obtained using getException()
and related methods to check if they have been cancelled, completed normally or exceptionally, or left unprocessed.
- Type Parameters:
-
T
- the type of the values returned from the tasks - Parameters:
-
tasks
- the collection of tasks - Returns:
- the tasks argument, to simplify usage
- Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if tasks or any element are null
cancel
public boolean cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfRunning)
Attempts to cancel execution of this task. This attempt will fail if the task has already completed or could not be cancelled for some other reason. If successful, and this task has not started when cancel
is called, execution of this task is suppressed. After this method returns successfully, unless there is an intervening call to reinitialize()
, subsequent calls to Future.isCancelled()
, Future.isDone()
, and cancel
will return true
and calls to join()
and related methods will result in CancellationException
.
This method may be overridden in subclasses, but if so, must still ensure that these properties hold. In particular, the cancel
method itself must not throw exceptions.
This method is designed to be invoked by other tasks. To terminate the current task, you can just return or throw an unchecked exception from its computation method, or invoke completeExceptionally(Throwable)
.
- Specified by:
-
cancel
in interfaceFuture<V>
- Parameters:
-
mayInterruptIfRunning
- this value has no effect in the default implementation because interrupts are not used to control cancellation. - Returns:
-
true
if this task is now cancelled
isCompletedAbnormally
public final boolean isCompletedAbnormally()
Returns true
if this task threw an exception or was cancelled.
- Returns:
-
true
if this task threw an exception or was cancelled
isCompletedNormally
public final boolean isCompletedNormally()
Returns true
if this task completed without throwing an exception and was not cancelled.
- Returns:
-
true
if this task completed without throwing an exception and was not cancelled
getException
public final Throwable getException()
Returns the exception thrown by the base computation, or a CancellationException
if cancelled, or null
if none or if the method has not yet completed.
- Returns:
- the exception, or
null
if none
completeExceptionally
public void completeExceptionally(Throwable ex)
Completes this task abnormally, and if not already aborted or cancelled, causes it to throw the given exception upon join
and related operations. This method may be used to induce exceptions in asynchronous tasks, or to force completion of tasks that would not otherwise complete. Its use in other situations is discouraged. This method is overridable, but overridden versions must invoke super
implementation to maintain guarantees.
- Parameters:
-
ex
- the exception to throw. If this exception is not aRuntimeException
orError
, the actual exception thrown will be aRuntimeException
with causeex
.
complete
public void complete(V value)
Completes this task, and if not already aborted or cancelled, returning the given value as the result of subsequent invocations of join
and related operations. This method may be used to provide results for asynchronous tasks, or to provide alternative handling for tasks that would not otherwise complete normally. Its use in other situations is discouraged. This method is overridable, but overridden versions must invoke super
implementation to maintain guarantees.
- Parameters:
-
value
- the result value for this task
quietlyComplete
public final void quietlyComplete()
Completes this task normally without setting a value. The most recent value established by setRawResult(V)
(or
null
by default) will be returned as the result of subsequent invocations of join
and related operations.
- Since:
- 1.8
get
public final V get() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException
Waits if necessary for the computation to complete, and then retrieves its result.
- Specified by:
-
get
in interfaceFuture<V>
- Returns:
- the computed result
- Throws:
-
CancellationException
- if the computation was cancelled -
ExecutionException
- if the computation threw an exception -
InterruptedException
- if the current thread is not a member of a ForkJoinPool and was interrupted while waiting
get
public final V get(long timeout, TimeUnit unit) throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException
Waits if necessary for at most the given time for the computation to complete, and then retrieves its result, if available.
- Specified by:
-
get
in interfaceFuture<V>
- Parameters:
-
timeout
- the maximum time to wait -
unit
- the time unit of the timeout argument - Returns:
- the computed result
- Throws:
-
CancellationException
- if the computation was cancelled -
ExecutionException
- if the computation threw an exception -
InterruptedException
- if the current thread is not a member of a ForkJoinPool and was interrupted while waiting -
TimeoutException
- if the wait timed out
quietlyJoin
public final void quietlyJoin()
Joins this task, without returning its result or throwing its exception. This method may be useful when processing collections of tasks when some have been cancelled or otherwise known to have aborted.
quietlyInvoke
public final void quietlyInvoke()
Commences performing this task and awaits its completion if necessary, without returning its result or throwing its exception.
helpQuiesce
public static void helpQuiesce()
Possibly executes tasks until the pool hosting the current task is quiescent. This method may be of use in designs in which many tasks are forked, but none are explicitly joined, instead executing them until all are processed.
reinitialize
public void reinitialize()
Resets the internal bookkeeping state of this task, allowing a subsequent fork
. This method allows repeated reuse of this task, but only if reuse occurs when this task has either never been forked, or has been forked, then completed and all outstanding joins of this task have also completed. Effects under any other usage conditions are not guaranteed. This method may be useful when executing pre-constructed trees of subtasks in loops.
Upon completion of this method, isDone()
reports false
, and getException()
reports
null
. However, the value returned by getRawResult
is unaffected. To clear this value, you can invoke
setRawResult(null)
.
getPool
public static ForkJoinPool getPool()
Returns the pool hosting the current thread, or null
if the current thread is executing outside of any ForkJoinPool.
This method returns null
if and only if inForkJoinPool()
returns false
.
- Returns:
- the pool, or
null
if none
inForkJoinPool
public static boolean inForkJoinPool()
Returns true
if the current thread is a ForkJoinWorkerThread
executing as a ForkJoinPool computation.
- Returns:
-
true
if the current thread is aForkJoinWorkerThread
executing as a ForkJoinPool computation, orfalse
otherwise
tryUnfork
public boolean tryUnfork()
Tries to unschedule this task for execution. This method will typically (but is not guaranteed to) succeed if this task is the most recently forked task by the current thread, and has not commenced executing in another thread. This method may be useful when arranging alternative local processing of tasks that could have been, but were not, stolen.
- Returns:
-
true
if unforked
getQueuedTaskCount
public static int getQueuedTaskCount()
Returns an estimate of the number of tasks that have been forked by the current worker thread but not yet executed. This value may be useful for heuristic decisions about whether to fork other tasks.
- Returns:
- the number of tasks
getSurplusQueuedTaskCount
public static int getSurplusQueuedTaskCount()
Returns an estimate of how many more locally queued tasks are held by the current worker thread than there are other worker threads that might steal them, or zero if this thread is not operating in a ForkJoinPool. This value may be useful for heuristic decisions about whether to fork other tasks. In many usages of ForkJoinTasks, at steady state, each worker should aim to maintain a small constant surplus (for example, 3) of tasks, and to process computations locally if this threshold is exceeded.
- Returns:
- the surplus number of tasks, which may be negative
getRawResult
public abstract V getRawResult()
Returns the result that would be returned by join()
, even if this task completed abnormally, or null
if this task is not known to have been completed. This method is designed to aid debugging, as well as to support extensions. Its use in any other context is discouraged.
- Returns:
- the result, or
null
if not completed
setRawResult
protected abstract void setRawResult(V value)
Forces the given value to be returned as a result. This method is designed to support extensions, and should not in general be called otherwise.
- Parameters:
-
value
- the value
exec
protected abstract boolean exec()
Immediately performs the base action of this task and returns true if, upon return from this method, this task is guaranteed to have completed normally. This method may return false otherwise, to indicate that this task is not necessarily complete (or is not known to be complete), for example in asynchronous actions that require explicit invocations of completion methods. This method may also throw an (unchecked) exception to indicate abnormal exit. This method is designed to support extensions, and should not in general be called otherwise.
- Returns:
-
true
if this task is known to have completed normally
peekNextLocalTask
protected static ForkJoinTask<?> peekNextLocalTask()
Returns, but does not unschedule or execute, a task queued by the current thread but not yet executed, if one is immediately available. There is no guarantee that this task will actually be polled or executed next. Conversely, this method may return null even if a task exists but cannot be accessed without contention with other threads. This method is designed primarily to support extensions, and is unlikely to be useful otherwise.
- Returns:
- the next task, or
null
if none are available
pollNextLocalTask
protected static ForkJoinTask<?> pollNextLocalTask()
Unschedules and returns, without executing, the next task queued by the current thread but not yet executed, if the current thread is operating in a ForkJoinPool. This method is designed primarily to support extensions, and is unlikely to be useful otherwise.
- Returns:
- the next task, or
null
if none are available
pollTask
protected static ForkJoinTask<?> pollTask()
If the current thread is operating in a ForkJoinPool, unschedules and returns, without executing, the next task queued by the current thread but not yet executed, if one is available, or if not available, a task that was forked by some other thread, if available. Availability may be transient, so a null
result does not necessarily imply quiescence of the pool this task is operating in. This method is designed primarily to support extensions, and is unlikely to be useful otherwise.
- Returns:
- a task, or
null
if none are available
pollSubmission
protected static ForkJoinTask<?> pollSubmission()
If the current thread is operating in a ForkJoinPool, unschedules and returns, without executing, a task externally submitted to the pool, if one is available. Availability may be transient, so a null
result does not necessarily imply quiescence of the pool. This method is designed primarily to support extensions, and is unlikely to be useful otherwise.
- Returns:
- a task, or
null
if none are available - Since:
- 9
getForkJoinTaskTag
public final short getForkJoinTaskTag()
Returns the tag for this task.
- Returns:
- the tag for this task
- Since:
- 1.8
setForkJoinTaskTag
public final short setForkJoinTaskTag(short newValue)
Atomically sets the tag value for this task and returns the old value.
- Parameters:
-
newValue
- the new tag value - Returns:
- the previous value of the tag
- Since:
- 1.8
compareAndSetForkJoinTaskTag
public final boolean compareAndSetForkJoinTaskTag(short expect, short update)
Atomically conditionally sets the tag value for this task. Among other applications, tags can be used as visit markers in tasks operating on graphs, as in methods that check:
if (task.compareAndSetForkJoinTaskTag((short)0, (short)1))
before processing, otherwise exiting because the node has already been visited.
- Parameters:
-
expect
- the expected tag value -
update
- the new tag value - Returns:
-
true
if successful; i.e., the current value was equal toexpect
and was changed toupdate
. - Since:
- 1.8
adapt
public static ForkJoinTask<?> adapt(Runnable runnable)
Returns a new ForkJoinTask
that performs the run
method of the given Runnable
as its action, and returns a null result upon join()
.
- Parameters:
-
runnable
- the runnable action - Returns:
- the task
adapt
public static <T> ForkJoinTask<T> adapt(Runnable runnable, T result)
Returns a new ForkJoinTask
that performs the run
method of the given Runnable
as its action, and returns the given result upon join()
.
- Type Parameters:
-
T
- the type of the result - Parameters:
-
runnable
- the runnable action -
result
- the result upon completion - Returns:
- the task
adapt
public static <T> ForkJoinTask<T> adapt(Callable<? extends T> callable)
Returns a new ForkJoinTask
that performs the call
method of the given Callable
as its action, and returns its result upon join()
, translating any checked exceptions encountered into RuntimeException
.
- Type Parameters:
-
T
- the type of the callable's result - Parameters:
-
callable
- the callable action - Returns:
- the task