Java As a Concurrent Language

By Andrew Skowronski

cs623 Course Project, McGill University

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Last Updated: April 9, 1996

Abstract

Java is a new object oriented language that has been recieving a lot of attention, largely because it is an excellent tool for programming applications to run over the World Wide Web. Java is a concurrent language, and because of its ease of use and popularity, it has the potential to become a very important language in the field of parallel programming. I examine the concurrency features of Java, then show how these can be used to create elegant implementations of important concurrency constructs like buffers, symmetric rendezvous and multicast channels. I also discuss some problems with the current thread scheduling scheme of Java that may decrease the potential usefulness of the language.

Index

References

  1. "The Java Spec
  2. "The Java White Paper
  3. "The Java tutorial" by Mary Campione and Kathy Walrath
  4. "Inside Windows NT" by Helen Custer
  5. "Operating Systems Concepts" by Silberschatz and Galvin
  6. "Concurrent Programming in ML" Draft Version, John Reppy
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Disclaimer: Some software names mentioned in this paper are trademark of a company. This represents the opinion of me and only me. Contents of this paper, including source code, (c) 1996.