How to synchronise threads and preserve their execution order with CyclingBarrier? - java

I want to write a multithread app that prints characters from Strings one by one and after first "round" it would preserve order for the other rounds. It should work somehting like this:
For Strings:
private String[] strings = {"aaaa", "bb", "ccccccccccccc", "dddddd"};
It would print:
abcd abcd acd acd cd cd c c c c c c c
or maybe
dbac dbac dac dac dc dc c c c c c c c
depending on which proccess started first in the very first round
My solution so far looks like this
import java.util.concurrent.BrokenBarrierException;
import java.util.concurrent.CyclicBarrier;
public class Printer {
private CyclicBarrier cyclicBarrier;
private final static String one = "aaa";
private final static String two = "bbbb";
private final static String three = "c";
private final static String four = "dddddd";
public static void main(String[] args) {
Printer printer = new Printer();
printer.runSimulation(4);
}
private void runSimulation(int numberOfStrings) {
cyclicBarrier = new CyclicBarrier(numberOfStrings, new AggregatorThread());
Thread thread = new Thread(new PrintingThread(padSpaces(one, 10)));
Thread thread1 = new Thread(new PrintingThread(padSpaces(two, 10)));
Thread thread3 = new Thread(new PrintingThread(padSpaces(three, 10)));
Thread thread4 = new Thread(new PrintingThread(padSpaces(four, 10)));
thread.start();
thread1.start();
thread3.start();
thread4.start();
}
class AggregatorThread implements Runnable{
#Override
public void run() {
System.out.print(" ");
}
}
class PrintingThread implements Runnable{
private String toPrint;
private int iterator;
public PrintingThread(String toPrint) {
this.toPrint = toPrint;
this.iterator = 0;
}
#Override
public void run() {
while(iterator < toPrint.length()) {
System.out.print(toPrint.charAt(iterator));
iterator++;
try {
cyclicBarrier.await();
} catch (InterruptedException | BrokenBarrierException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
private String padSpaces(String inputString, int length) {
if (inputString.length() >= length) {
return inputString;
}
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
while (sb.length() < length - inputString.length()) {
sb.append(' ');
}
StringBuilder sb1 = new StringBuilder(inputString);
sb1.append(sb);
return sb1.toString();
}
}
But it doesn't preserve the order of letters written to the console and also i fill the Strings to the some hardcoded value right now, but i would want to make it work properly without equal strings.
Any suggestions on this?

Since you're asking for a solution with CyclicBarrier, here's a way you could do this with one... It definitely wouldn't be my first thought for how to solve the issue though (assuming the issue isn't 'do this with a CyclicBarrier'...).
Create a CyclicBarrier of length 4.
Assign each Thread a number (0 to 3) when it starts (using an AtomicInteger or otherwise).
Have each Thread do something like:
while (barrier.getNumberWaiting() != this.threadNumber) {
}
// Do your adding to the StringBuilder here...
barrier.await();
I.e. each Thread spins until the number of waiting parties is equal to that Thread's number.
Whichever is assigned 0 will always go through first, while all the others are stuck spinning. Once that Thread has done its StringBuilder thing, it will then await, which in turn frees the Thread assigned 1 to go through. The order will stay consistent after the number assignments.
To get the unique id per process, a simple AtomicInteger can be used.
private final AtomicInteger idCounter = new AtomicInteger();
private final CyclicBarrier barrier = new CyclicBarrier(4);
private final AtomicInteger doneCounter = new AtomicInteger();
public Runnable createRunnable() {
return () -> {
final int threadId = this.idCounter.getAndIncrement();
boolean threadDone = false;
boolean moreCharacters = true;
while (true) {
while (this.barrier.getNumberWaiting() != threadId) {
}
// Add to StringBuilder here...
// Set the 'moreCharacters' flag as false once this thread
// has handled its String.
// They will still need to spin though, to make sure the
// parties waiting keep adding up as appropriate.
if (!moreCharacters && !threadDone) {
// 'threadDone' used so that each thread only
// increments the 'doneCounter' once.
this.doneCounter.incrementAndGet();
threadDone = true;
}
barrier.await();
if (this.doneCounter.get() == 4) {
// Exit out of the loop once all Threads are done.
break;
}
}
};
}

Related

How can I assign a value to the threadArray variable in Task1 , Task2, Task3 class run() method?

I have to insert the elements using three threads by creating three classes, namely Task1,Task2 and Task3. The values to be inserted into the array are 0,1,2,....299.
Override the run method in the threads. Three integer i,j, and k representing the number of elements each thread should append inside the given array.
Thread one should append 0 to i-1 inside the array,thread two should append i to i+j-1 inside the array,and the third thread should append i+j to 299 inide the array.
Threads one and two must run simultaneously, and the values of the threads one and two must be inserted inside the indices of the array from 0 to i+j-1 randomly.The third thread should start only after the first two threads have been executed completely.
In these code three task are given.
first task and second task start executing the thread at the same time and after completion of first two task then only third task start. If these situation getting correct then test() method return true.
public static final int[] threadArray = new int[300]; how I add random number into these array using Task1 Task2 and Task3 class.
Input :
80
130
90
Output :
True
import java.util.Scanner;
class Task1 extends Thread
{
static int a = 0;
static int beg = 0;
public void run()
{
for(int i=a;i<=beg;i++)
{
Solution.threadArray[i] = i;
try {
Thread.sleep(500);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
class Task2 extends Thread
{
static int a = 0;
static int beg = 0;
#Override
public void run()
{
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
for(int i=a;i<=beg;i++)
{
Solution.threadArray[i] = i;
}
}
}
class Task3 extends Thread
{
static int a = 0;
static int beg = 0;
public void run()
{
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
for(int i=a;i<=beg;i++)
{
Solution.threadArray[i] = i;
}
}
}
public class Solution
{
public static final int[] threadArray = new int[300];
public static volatile String i = 0+"";
public boolean test() throws InterruptedException
{
Task1 task1 = new Task1();
Task2 task2 = new Task2();
Task3 task3 = new Task3();
Thread task2Thread = new Thread(task2);
Thread task3Thread = new Thread(task3);
task1.start();
task2Thread.start();
task1.join();
task2Thread.join();
task3Thread.start();
int first = Task1.a+Task2.a;
int containsSecondThread = Task1.a;
String oneAndTwo = "";
String sizeOfTask1 = "";
for(int i=0;i<first;i++)
{
oneAndTwo += threadArray[i]+" ";
}
for(int i=0;i<containsSecondThread;i++)
{
sizeOfTask1 += threadArray[i]+" ";
}
int begOfTask3 = Task3.beg;
String checkingString = "";
for(int i=begOfTask3;i<threadArray.length;i++)
{
checkingString += i + " ";
}
String task3String = "";
for(int j = begOfTask3;j<threadArray.length;j++)
{
task3String += threadArray[j]+" ";
}
if((!oneAndTwo.contains(begOfTask3+"") && sizeOfTask1.contains(Task2.beg+"")) || task3String.equals(checkingString))
{
return true;
}
return false;
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException
{
Scanner sc= new Scanner(System.in);
Solution solution = new Solution();
int one = sc.nextInt();
Task1.a = one;
Task1.beg = 0;
int two = sc.nextInt();
Task2.a = two;
Task2.beg = one;
int three = sc.nextInt();
Task3.a = three;
Task3.beg = one+two;
System.out.print(solution.test());
}
}
First, some observations regarding your code: Instead of using static variables in the classes (i.e., Task1, Task2, and Task3) that extend the class Thread (to understand why have a look at Why are static variables considered evil?):
static int a = 0;
static int beg = 0;
use non-static final fields, and initialize them via the constructor:
class Task1 extends Thread
{
private final int begin;
private final int end;
Task1(int begin, int end){
this.begin = begin;
this.end = end;
}
public void run(){
for(int i=begin; i<= end; i++)
....
}
}
adapt the main method accordingly:
public static void main(String[] args){
...
Task1 task1 = new Task1(begin, end);
}
and then pass the tasks-related objects as parameters of to the test method:
public boolean test(Task1 task1, Task2 task2, Task3 task3){
...
}
For the concatenation of the strings use StringBuilder:
StringBuilder oneAndTwo = new StringBuilder();
for(int i=0;i<first;i++)
{
oneAndTwo.append(threadArray[i]).append(" ");
}
This looks wrong:
Task1.a = one;
Task1.beg = 0;
by looking at the loop of the run method from Task1, this means that, if Task1.a is not a negative number, then Task1 will not do any work.
To use the threads to generate the random values of the array:
int[] threadArray = new int[300];
you can start by extracting a method to generate those random values, based on formula:
r.nextInt(high-low) + low;
this formula generates a random value between low and high.
Adapt the tasks, accordingly:
class Task1 extends Thread
{
private final Random random_values = new Random();
private final int low;
private final int high;
...
public int generate_random(){
return r.nextInt(high-low) + low;
}
public void run()
{
for(....)
{
Solution.threadArray[i] = generate_random();
...
}
}
}
Make sure to pass to the threads the information about the range of the random values to be generated (i.e., the low and high parameters), and the reference to the array that will be filled up with those random values (i.e., array int[] threadArray) . Also make sure that you split the iterations int[] threadArray among the threads. Therefore, each thread should generate a chunk of the random values. An example of such distribution would be:
Thread 1 : 0 to 100;
Thread 2 : 100 to 200;
Thread 3 : 200 to 300;
You can make this more robust and divide the array length by the number to threads and assign the work among threads, accordingly.
I could have provided you with the entire solution, but I feel that is better instead if I give you the pointers so that you can do it in your own.
EDIT: Based on the new edit of your question:
You just need to adapt the Task classes as follows:
class Task1 extends Thread {
static int a = 0;
static int beg = 0;
public void run(){
for(int i=beg;i < a;i++)
Solution.threadArray[i] = i;
}
}
class Task2 extends Thread {
static int a = 0;
static int beg = 0;
public void run(){
for(int i=beg; i< beg + a;i++)
Solution.threadArray[i] = i;
}
}
class Task3 extends Thread{
static int a = 0;
static int beg = 0;
public void run(){
for(int i=beg;i< a + beg;i++)
Solution.threadArray[i] = i;
}
}
Thread1 and Thread2 are supposed to access Common Resource in threadArray[0... Task1.a+Task2+a]. So we have to make use of static volatile variable i declared in Solution Class.
class Task1 extends Thread
{
static int a=0,beg=0;
public void run()
{
int k=Task1.beg;
int i1=0;
while(i1<Task1.a)
{
Solution.threadArray[Integer.parseInt(Solution.i)]=k++;
int a1=Integer.parseInt(Solution.i);
a1++;i1++;
Solution.i=a1+"";
try{
Thread.sleep(1);
}
catch(InterruptedException e){}
}
}
}
class Task2 extends Thread
{
static int a=0,beg=0;
public void run()
{
int y=0;
int k=Task2.beg;
while(y<Task2.a)
{
Solution.threadArray[Integer.parseInt(Solution.i)]=k++;
int a1=Integer.parseInt(Solution.i);
a1++;y++;
Solution.i=a1+"";
try{
Thread.sleep(1);
}
catch(InterruptedException e){}
}
}
}
Thread3 work independently after First 2 threads complete.
class Task3 extends Thread
{
static int beg=0,a=0;
public void run()
{
for(int i=Task3.beg;i<Task3.beg+Task3.a;i++)
{
Solution.threadArray[i]=i;
}
}
}

Prime Numbers Generating Threads in Java printing twice

I am trying to print prime numbers between one point to another, lets say from 1 to 1000 in one thread and 1000 to 2000 in another thread but when I print each thread using foreach loop it gives me an unordered Arraylist which is printed twice.
I am trying to print 1, 2, 3, 5, 7... using two concurrent threads. Please help me out so that I can better understand threading.
public class PrimeNumberGenerator implements Runnable{
protected long from, to;
static ArrayList<Long> primeList = new ArrayList<Long>();
public PrimeNumberGenerator(long from,long to)
{
this.from = from;
this.to = to;
}
public long count = 0;
public void run() {
for(long n=from; n<=to; n++){
boolean isPrime = true;
for(long i = 2; i<n; i++) {
if(n % i==0) {
isPrime = false;
break;
}
}
if(isPrime) {
count++;
primeList.add(n);
}
}
}
public ArrayList<Long> getPrimes() {
return primeList;
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
PrimeNumberGenerator gen1 = new PrimeNumberGenerator(1L,1000L);
PrimeNumberGenerator gen2 = new PrimeNumberGenerator(1001L,2000L);
Thread t1 = new Thread(gen1);
Thread t2 = new Thread(gen2);
t1.start();
t2.start();
t1.join();
t2.join();
gen1.getPrimes().forEach(primeList -> System.out.println(primeList));
gen2.getPrimes().forEach(primeList -> System.out.println(primeList));
}
}
The problem is that you have two threads filling the same ArrayList at the same time, because your ArrayList is static (meaning there will only be one instand shared throughout the whole application)
The first thread may add three numbers, then the second thread adds three numbers and then the first again, resulting in an ArrayList that contains
[1, 2, 3, 1009, 1013, 1019, 5, 7, 11]
Then in the end you (correctly) wait for the Threads to finish and print the same (incorrectly ordered) ArrayList twice!
Just make your ArrayList non static and it will work, that way both PrimeNumberGenerator will have their own ArrayList!
I recommend using a TreeSet to keep the primes ordered. The TreeSet will need to be properly synchronized for multiple thread access.
public class PrimeNumberGenerator implements Runnable {
protected long from, to;
static Set<Long> primeList = new TreeSet<Long>();
public PrimeNumberGenerator(long from, long to)
{
this.from = from;
this.to = to;
}
public long count=0;
public void run() {
for(long n=from;n<=to;n++) {
boolean isPrime = true;
for(long i = 2; i<n; i++) {
if(n % i==0) {
isPrime = false;
break;
}
}
if(isPrime) {
count++;
synchronized(primeList) {
primList.add(n);
}
}
}
}
public static ArrayList<Long> getPrimes(){
//Make a copy so we don't need to synchronize outside of this class
return new ArrayList<>(primeList);
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
PrimeNumberGenerator gen1 = new PrimeNumberGenerator(1L,1000L);
PrimeNumberGenerator gen2 = new PrimeNumberGenerator(1001L,2000L);
Thread t1 = new Thread(gen1);
Thread t2 = new Thread(gen2);
t1.start();
t2.start();
t1.join();
t2.join();
PrimeNumberGenerator.getPrimes().forEach(primeList -> System.out.println(primeList));
}
}

Concurrency setting bounds

I'm pretty new to Concurrency but get this gist of it at the moment; I have a program that is NOT Thread Safe, so that it is possible that the invariant of the class mainly the lower bound is less than on equal to the upper bound can be broken.
I have come up with a little main method hoping it would print out false when this is true but cannot figure why it wont.
public class Conc implements Runnable {
// Invariant: lower <= upper
private final AtomicInteger lower = new AtomicInteger(0);
private final AtomicInteger upper = new AtomicInteger(0);
public void setLower(int l) {
if (l <= upper.get())
lower.set(l);
}
public void setUpper(int u) {
if (u >= lower.get())
upper.set(u);
}
public boolean isInRange(int i) {
return (i >= lower.get() && i <= upper.get());
}
public boolean invariantSatisfied() {
return (lower.get() <= upper.get());
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Thread t1 = new Thread(new Conc());
Thread t2 = new Thread(new Conc());
Thread t3 = new Thread(new Conc());
t1.start();
t2.start();
t3.start();
}
#Override
public void run() {
for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
setUpper(i - 10000);
setLower(i + 800000);
if (invariantSatisfied() == false) {
System.out.println("False");
}
System.out.println();
}
}
}
There are a couple of issues with this program that are causing the unexpected results.
The first as has been pointed out is that the code is actually thread safe.
This is because each Object has it's own set of fields that they are referring to and each thread has it's own object.
This can be fixed in a couple of ways
you can use the same object in each thread
Conc target = new Conc ();
Thread t1 = new Thread(target);
Thread t2 = new Thread(target);
Thread t3 = new Thread(target);
t1.start();
t2.start();
t3.start();
or you could make the fields static which would mean there is only ever one instance
private static final AtomicInteger lower = new AtomicInteger(0);
private static final AtomicInteger upper = new AtomicInteger(0);
The other issue you have is that even if this program was not thread safe the the window for the test to fail is so small that it would rarely if ever fail due to the input data.
for(int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++){
setUpper(i);
setLower(i);
if(!invariantSatisfied()){
System.out.println("False");
}
}
fixes that.
When you are creating the threads you provide to each one a new instance of Conc class. Which means that there is concurrent access to lower and upper instance variables, each thread has its own.
So you do not have a concurrency issue here, is more like a problem with your algorithm.
The code is thread-safe.

Return Value from Java Thread Class

So below is a simple Java class using multithreading, and my question is, is there a way for me to store the randomNumber from each thread (maybe in a variable called randomNumberOne or randomNumberTwo), so that I can use those to possibly get the sum of both and return it?
I know this example sounds stupid but basically with my real code I am returning a value from each of my threads and want to get the average of them. I haven't found any solution for returning values in threads in java (also I am new to multithreading completely).
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args){
MathThread one = new MathThread();
MathThread two = new MathThread();
one.start();
two.start();
}
}
class MathThread extends Thread{
public MathThread(){
}
public void run(){
Random rand = new Random();
int randomNumber = rand.nextInt((100 - 1) + 1) + 1;
System.out.println(randomNumber);
}
Output
5
33
Add a result variable to your MathThread class and get the value after you join the thread:
class MathThread extends Thread
{
private int result;
public int getResult()
{
this.join();
return result;
}
public void run()
{
// ...
result = randomNumber;
}
}
one.start();
two.start();
double average = (one.getResult() + two.getResult()) / 2.0;
In Java 8 you can do
IntStream.of(0, 2).parallel()
.map(i -> new Random().nextInt(100)+1)
.forEach(System.out::println);
Without using the Stream API you can do
List<Future> futures = new ArrayList<>();
for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
futures.add(ForkJoinPool.commonPool()
.submit(new Callable<Integer>() {
public Integer call() {
return new Random().nextInt(100)+1;
}));
for(Future<Integer> future : futures)
System.out.printl(future.get());
Here is the simple snippet to customize:
// 1. Create and fill callables to execute
List<Callable<Integer>> callables = new LinkedList<>();
// callabels.addAll(makeMeCallables());
// 2. Run using Executor of your choice
ExecutorService service = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();
List<Future<Integer>> results = service.invokeAll(callables);
// 3. Get the results
if (results.get(i).isDone()) {
Future f = result.get(i);
// process f.get()
}

how to achieve mutual exclusion using synchronized method in this application

i have run into a little problem in here. I am doing a concurrent program in Java. Problem is: There are 4 people (students) that are trying to access printer, to print 5 documents. But only one can print at the time (kind of obvious) 5 documents. When they finish they notify other that they done and other thread accesses the resource. i have a Main class, student class and Monitor (laser printer), Document class that holds info about the document like (number of pages, name user id etc)+ few interfaces for printer. I have managed to run successfully threads but they are not synchronized (mutual exclusion)
So the question is how do i achieve mutual exclusion ( that only one person can print at the time his number of docs)
Thank you for looking, time and hints :)
Main class
String S1Name = "bob";
String S2Name = "klara";
String S3Name = "John";
String S4Name = "Iga";
String T1Name = "Man";
String T2Name = "Woman";
final int NoOfDocs = 5;
ServicePrinter sp = new LaserPrinter();
ThreadGroup groupA = new ThreadGroup("Group A");
ThreadGroup groupB = new ThreadGroup("Group B");
Student student1 = new Student(sp,NoOfDocs,S1Name, groupA);
Student student2 = new Student(sp,NoOfDocs,S2Name, groupA);
Student student3 = new Student(sp,NoOfDocs,S3Name, groupA);
Student student4 = new Student(sp,NoOfDocs,S4Name, groupA);
TonerTechnician TT = new TonerTechnician(groupB);
PaperTechnician PT = new PaperTechnician(groupB);
/*
* Start Student Threads
*/
student1.start();
student2.start();
student3.start();
student4.start();
/*
* Start Technician threads
*/
TT.start();
PT.start();
Student Class
private final ServicePrinter serviceprinter;
private final int NoOfDocs;
private final String Name;
private final ThreadGroup threadgroup;
public Student(ServicePrinter serviceprinter, int NoOfDocs, String Name, ThreadGroup threadgroup)
{
this.serviceprinter = serviceprinter;
this.NoOfDocs = NoOfDocs;
this.Name = Name;
this.threadgroup = threadgroup;
}
#Override
public void run()
{
/*
* each students prints 5 documents (different name and length)
*/
final LaserPrinter lp = new LaserPrinter();
//sleep from 1 to 5 sec random time
final Random random = new Random();
char[] chars = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz".toCharArray();
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
/*
* Create random document name 10 characters long
*/
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
char c = chars[random.nextInt(chars.length)];
sb.append(c);
}
String docName = sb.toString();
/*
* print 5 documents (random sleep time between printing)
*/
for(int i = 0; i < NoOfDocs; i++)
{
try
{
Document coursework = new Document(Name,docName,random.nextInt(90)+10);
lp.printDocument(coursework);
Thread.sleep(random.nextInt(1000)+4000);
}
catch (InterruptedException ex)
{
Logger.getLogger(Student.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
System.out.println("User: " + Name+ " completed printing");
Monitor class
int tonerLevel = 500;
int paperLevel = 250;
private final String PrinterName = "HP";
private final String PrinterID = "LX-440";
private int CurrentPaperLevel;
private int CurrentTonerLevel;
private int NoOfDocsPrinted;
#Override
public synchronized void printDocument(Document document) {
System.out.println(document);
}
It seems that you're creating a local printer object in your run method instead of using the shared one you pass to the Student class. Try using the shared printer that you pass and see what you get. Also we need to see how you use printDocument in ServicePrinter. This is because you are using a ServicePrinter object in your Student class, and the implementation of printDocument in ServicePrinter may not be correct (that is if you actually have it implemented in the superclass)
Here is a simple mutex implementation but you should use java.util.concurrent package for synchronization
EDIT: Changed mutex to semaphore (it makes more sense)
A simple mutex implementaion:
public class Mutex {
private int semaphore;
public synchronized void aquire() throws InterruptedException {
if(semaphore < 0) {
wait();
}
semaphore--;
}
public synchronized void release() {
if(semaphore < 0) {
semaphore++;
notify();
}
}
}

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