Java Concurrency

Java Concurrency Standards

Executor Framework

// Fixed thread pool - bounded, predictable
ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(
    Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors()
);

// Cached thread pool - unbounded, use carefully
ExecutorService cached = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();

// Scheduled executor
ScheduledExecutorService scheduler = Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(2);
scheduler.scheduleAtFixedRate(task, 0, 1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

// Virtual threads (Java 21+)
ExecutorService virtual = Executors.newVirtualThreadPerTaskExecutor();

// Custom thread pool
ThreadPoolExecutor custom = new ThreadPoolExecutor(
    4,                      // core pool size
    8,                      // max pool size
    60, TimeUnit.SECONDS,   // keep alive
    new LinkedBlockingQueue<>(100),  // work queue
    new ThreadPoolExecutor.CallerRunsPolicy()  // rejection handler
);

// Always shutdown executors
try {
    executor.shutdown();
    if (!executor.awaitTermination(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
        executor.shutdownNow();
    }
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
    executor.shutdownNow();
    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
}

CompletableFuture

// Async execution
CompletableFuture userFuture = CompletableFuture
    .supplyAsync(() -> userService.findById(id), executor);

// Chaining
CompletableFuture result = userFuture
    .thenApply(User::getEmail)
    .thenApply(String::toLowerCase)
    .exceptionally(ex -> "unknown@example.com");

// Combine multiple futures
CompletableFuture profile = CompletableFuture
    .allOf(userFuture, ordersFuture, preferencesFuture)
    .thenApply(v -> new UserProfile(
        userFuture.join(),
        ordersFuture.join(),
        preferencesFuture.join()
    ));

// Either/race
CompletableFuture fastest = CompletableFuture
    .anyOf(primaryService, fallbackService)
    .thenApply(result -> (String) result);

// Timeout (Java 9+)
CompletableFuture withTimeout = userFuture
    .orTimeout(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
    .exceptionally(ex -> defaultUser);

Synchronization

// synchronized block - prefer over method
private final Object lock = new Object();

public void update(String value) {
    synchronized (lock) {
        // critical section
    }
}

// ReentrantLock - more flexible
private final ReentrantLock lock = new ReentrantLock();

public void process() {
    lock.lock();
    try {
        // critical section
    } finally {
        lock.unlock();
    }
}

// ReadWriteLock - multiple readers, single writer
private final ReadWriteLock rwLock = new ReentrantReadWriteLock();

public String read() {
    rwLock.readLock().lock();
    try {
        return data;
    } finally {
        rwLock.readLock().unlock();
    }
}

public void write(String value) {
    rwLock.writeLock().lock();
    try {
        data = value;
    } finally {
        rwLock.writeLock().unlock();
    }
}

Atomic Classes

// Atomic primitives
AtomicInteger counter = new AtomicInteger(0);
counter.incrementAndGet();
counter.compareAndSet(expected, newValue);

// Atomic reference
AtomicReference configRef = new AtomicReference<>(initialConfig);
configRef.updateAndGet(config -> config.withNewValue(value));

// LongAdder for high contention
LongAdder adder = new LongAdder();
adder.increment();
long sum = adder.sum();

Virtual Threads (Java 21+)

// Simple virtual thread
Thread.startVirtualThread(() -> {
    // blocking I/O is fine
    String data = httpClient.get(url);
    process(data);
});

// With executor
try (var executor = Executors.newVirtualThreadPerTaskExecutor()) {
    List> futures = tasks.stream()
        .map(task -> executor.submit(task::execute))
        .toList();

    for (Future future : futures) {
        results.add(future.get());
    }
}

// Don't use with CPU-bound tasks
// Don't use synchronized for long operations (use ReentrantLock)

Best Practices

1. Prefer high-level constructs (Executor, CompletableFuture) over raw threads
2. Size thread pools based on task type (CPU-bound: cores, I/O-bound: higher)
3. Always handle InterruptedException - restore interrupt status
4. Use virtual threads for I/O-bound tasks (Java 21+)
5. Prefer Atomic classes over synchronized for simple counters
6. Immutability is the best synchronization

References

• [Executor Patterns](references/executor-patterns.md) - Thread pool configuration, shutdown
• [CompletableFuture](references/completable-future.md) - Async composition patterns
• [Virtual Threads](references/virtual-threads.md) - Java 21+ patterns

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: ngxtm
• Source: ngxtm/devkit
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.