Naming a thread in Java

In the realm of multithreading, efficient management and differentiation of concurrent processes become paramount. A key aspect of this management is the ability to assign meaningful names to threads, allowing developers to distinguish between threads, troubleshoot issues, and monitor performance more effectively. In Java, this functionality is encapsulated within the concept of “Thread Naming.”

Naming a thread in Java

Naming a thread in Java refers to giving a human-readable name to a thread instance. This is a useful practice for debugging and monitoring purposes, as it helps identify threads more easily in logs and debugging tools. By default, threads are assigned names like “Thread-0”, “Thread-1”, and so on.

setName() Method:

public final void setName(String name)

Method Signature: public final void setName(String name)

Return Type: void

Description: Sets the name of the thread to the specified name.

getName() Method:

public final String getName()

Method Signature: public final String getName()

Return Type: String

Description: Returns the name of the thread.

Naming a thread using setName():

class ThreadNamingExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Thread thread1 = new Thread(new MyRunnable());
        thread1.setName("TechVidvanThread1"); // Naming the thread
        thread1.start();
    }
    static class MyRunnable implements Runnable {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            String threadName = Thread.currentThread().getName();
            System.out.println("Thread " + threadName + " is running.");
        }
    }
}

Output:

Thread TechVidvanThread1 is running.

Explanation:

We create a Thread instance named thread1 and associate it with a Runnable named MyRunnable.
We use the setName() method to give the thread the name “TechVidvanThread1”.
The MyRunnable class’s run() method retrieves the name of the current thread using Thread.currentThread().getName().

Naming a thread without using setName():

class ThreadNamingWithoutSetName {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        MyThread thread1 = new MyThread("TechVidvanThread1");
        MyThread thread2 = new MyThread("TechVidvanThread2");
        thread1.start();
        thread2.start();
    }
    static class MyThread extends Thread {
        MyThread(String name) {
            super(name); // Calling the Thread constructor with the name
        }
        @Override
        public void run() {
            String threadName = Thread.currentThread().getName();
            System.out.println("Thread " + threadName + " is running.");
        }
    }
}

Output:

Thread TechVidvanThread2 is running.

Thread TechVidvanThread1 is running.

Explanation:

We create a subclass of Thread named MyThread.
The constructor of MyThread accepts a name and passes it to the superclass constructor using super(name).
We create two MyThread instances, providing names “TechVidvanThread1” and “TechVidvanThread2” respectively.
The run() method of MyThread retrieves the name of the current thread and prints a message.

Fetching the name of the current Thread:

A static method that provides access to a thread object currently in the process of execution is called currentThread() within the Java Thread class. This returns a reference to the object representing the current thread that is running.

Method Signature:

Public static native Thread currentThread()

Return Type:

Thread

The currentThread() method is categorized as a native method, indicating that its implementation resides in platform-specific code. This method is responsible for yielding a reference to the Thread object that corresponds to the thread currently engaged in execution.

Example Code:

public class CurrentThreadNameExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Thread currentThread = Thread.currentThread();
        String threadName = currentThread.getName();
        System.out.println("Current thread name: " + threadName);
    }
}

Output:

Current thread name: main

Explanation:

We use the Thread.currentThread() method to obtain a reference to the current thread.
We call the getName() method on the current thread object to retrieve its name.
We print the name of the current thread.

Conclusion

Thread naming might seem like a minor detail in the complex landscape of multithreading, but its impact is far from negligible. As we’ve explored in this article, the ability to assign meaningful names to threads offers substantial benefits that streamline debugging, enhance monitoring, and provide developers with a clearer view of their application’s concurrency.

Naming a thread in Java