A different way to stop a thread is the right way

Question

I came across another proposal to terminate the thread. May I know this is the right way? Or does it depend?

Using Thread Variable http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/guide/misc/threadPrimitiveDeprecation.html

private volatile Thread blinker; public void stop() { blinker = null; } public void run() { Thread thisThread = Thread.currentThread(); while (blinker == thisThread) { try { thisThread.sleep(interval); } catch (InterruptedException e){ } repaint(); } } 

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Using a boolean flag

 private volatile boolean flag; public void stop() { flag = false; } public void run() { while (flag) { try { thisThread.sleep(interval); } catch (InterruptedException e){ } repaint(); } } 

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Using Thread Variable with Interrupt

 private volatile Thread blinker; public void stop() { blinker.interrupt(); blinker = null; } public void run() { Thread thisThread = Thread.currentThread(); while (!thisThread.isInterrupted() && blinker == thisThread) { try { thisThread.sleep(interval); } catch (InterruptedException e){ } repaint(); } } 

Answer 1

None of them are the "right" way, they are all valid. Which one you use depends on your circumstances, and which one is best for you.

Until you use Thread.stop() , and you remove all resources left open by your threads (connections, temporary files, etc.), then it doesn’t matter how you do it.

Answer 2

I always use a boolean flag - its the easiest. Its very short and understandable for reviewers, but it has a handycap that you cannot interrupt the sleep call. You should only use interrupt options to stop the flow in time. And as the scaffman said - Do not use Thread.stop() !

Answer 3

what about this

 class Tester { public static void main() { Try t = new Try(); Thread.sleep(10); //wait for 10 milliseconds t.interrupt(); // 'interrupt' ie stop the thread } } public class Try extends Thread { @override public void interrupt() { //perform all cleanup code here this.stop(); /*stop() is unsafe .but if we peform all cleanup code above it should be okay ???. since thread is calling stop itself?? */ } }