Hi,
How to kill a running thread in java
+7
A:
You can ask the thread to interrupt, by calling Thread.interrupt()
Note that a few other methods with similar semantics exist - stop() and destroy() - but they are deprecated, because they are unsafe. Don't be tempted to use them.
Bozho
2010-06-28 07:31:50
@Bozho .. destroy() is not depricated.
JavaUser
2010-06-28 07:36:33
See Bozho's "unsafe" link, in particular the "What should I use instead of Thread.stop()" section, to see the canonical way to actuall *kill* a thread. Interrupt will merely cause any currently-executing blocking calls to stop running, but will not in itself stop the thread from executing.
Andrzej Doyle
2010-06-28 07:37:53
@JavaUser it is, as of Java 1.5
Bozho
2010-06-28 07:40:07
@JavaUser - there is also the "slight problem" that the javadoc prior to JDK 1.5 for `destroy()` says *"(This method is not implemented.)"*. It won't work even if you try to use it.
Stephen C
2010-06-28 07:44:00
+2
A:
Shortly you need Thread.interrupt()
For more details check How do I stop a thread that waits for long periods (e.g., for input) HERE.
Incognito
2010-06-28 07:38:04
+3
A:
As Bozho said, Thread.interrupt() is the generic and right way to do it. But remember that it requires the thread to cooperate; It is very easy to implement a thread that ignores interruption requests.
In order for a piece of code to be interruptible this way, it shouldn't ignore any InterruptedException, and it should check the interruption flag on each loop iteration (using Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()). Also, it shouldn't have any non-interruptible blocking operations. If such operations exist (e.g. waiting on a socket), then you'll need a more specific interruption implementation (e.g. closing the socket).
Eyal Schneider
2010-06-28 07:50:42