Thread Pools & Executors

Why Thread Pools?

Creating threads manually has significant overhead. Thread pools solve this by reusing threads and managing resources efficiently.

Visual: Manual Threads vs Thread Pool

Benefits of Thread Pools

1. Resource Reuse: Threads are reused, avoiding creation/destruction overhead
2. Overhead Reduction: Thread lifecycle is managed efficiently
3. Resource Limits: Prevents system overload with bounded thread counts
4. Task Queuing: Tasks wait in queue when all threads are busy
5. Better Performance: Reduced context switching and memory usage

---

Java ExecutorService

Java’s ExecutorService provides a high-level abstraction for thread pool management.

Visual: ExecutorService Architecture

FixedThreadPool

A FixedThreadPool has a fixed number of threads with an unbounded queue.

Java

FixedThreadPoolExample.java

import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;

public class FixedThreadPoolExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create fixed thread pool with 4 threads
        ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(4);

        // Submit tasks
        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            final int taskId = i;
            executor.submit(() -> {
                System.out.println("Task " + taskId +
                    " executed by " + Thread.currentThread().getName());
                try {
                    Thread.sleep(1000);
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
                }
            });
        }

        // Shutdown
        executor.shutdown();
        try {
            executor.awaitTermination(60, java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.SECONDS);
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
        }
    }
}

Go

fixed_worker_pool.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "sync"
  "time"
)

func main() {
  const numWorkers = 4
  tasks := make(chan int, 10)
  var wg sync.WaitGroup

  // Start fixed pool of worker goroutines
  for w := 0; w < numWorkers; w++ {
    wg.Add(1)
    go func(workerID int) {
      defer wg.Done()
      for taskID := range tasks {
        fmt.Printf("Task %d executed by worker %d\n", taskID, workerID)
        time.Sleep(time.Second)
      }
    }(w)
  }

  // Submit 10 tasks
  for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
    tasks <- i
  }
  close(tasks) // signal workers no more tasks

  wg.Wait()
}

Characteristics:

• Fixed number of threads
• Unbounded queue (tasks wait if all threads busy)
• Threads live until pool shutdown
• Good for: CPU-bound tasks, predictable workloads

CachedThreadPool

A CachedThreadPool creates threads on demand and reuses them.

Java

CachedThreadPoolExample.java

import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;

public class CachedThreadPoolExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Creates threads as needed, reuses idle threads
        ExecutorService executor = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();

        for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
            final int taskId = i;
            executor.submit(() -> {
                System.out.println("Task " + taskId +
                    " executed by " + Thread.currentThread().getName());
                try {
                    Thread.sleep(2000);
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
                }
            });
        }

        executor.shutdown();
    }
}

Go

dynamic_worker_pool.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "sync"
  "time"
)

func main() {
  var wg sync.WaitGroup

  // Go's equivalent of CachedThreadPool: spin up a goroutine per task.
  // The Go runtime schedules them efficiently — no fixed limit needed.
  for i := 0; i < 20; i++ {
    taskID := i
    wg.Add(1)
    go func() {
      defer wg.Done()
      fmt.Printf("Task %d executed\n", taskID)
      time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
    }()
  }

  wg.Wait()
}

Characteristics:

• Creates threads on demand
• No queue (creates new thread if none available)
• Idle threads terminated after 60 seconds
• Good for: I/O-bound tasks, short-lived tasks, unpredictable workloads

ScheduledThreadPool

A ScheduledThreadPool executes tasks after a delay or periodically.

Java

ScheduledThreadPoolExample.java

import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class ScheduledThreadPoolExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
        ScheduledExecutorService scheduler = Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(2);

        // Execute after delay
        scheduler.schedule(() -> {
            System.out.println("Delayed task executed");
        }, 2, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

        // Execute periodically
        scheduler.scheduleAtFixedRate(() -> {
            System.out.println("Periodic task executed");
        }, 0, 1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

        Thread.sleep(5000);
        scheduler.shutdown();
    }
}

Go

scheduled_tasks.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "time"
)

func main() {
  // Execute once after a delay
  go func() {
    time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
    fmt.Println("Delayed task executed")
  }()

  // Execute periodically using a ticker
  ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Second)
  go func() {
    for range ticker.C {
      fmt.Println("Periodic task executed")
    }
  }()

  time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
  ticker.Stop()
  fmt.Println("Scheduler stopped")
}

SingleThreadExecutor

A SingleThreadExecutor ensures sequential execution (one task at a time).

Java

SingleThreadExecutorExample.java

import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;

public class SingleThreadExecutorExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ExecutorService executor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();

        // Tasks execute sequentially
        for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
            final int taskId = i;
            executor.submit(() -> {
                System.out.println("Task " + taskId + " executed");
            });
        }

        executor.shutdown();
    }
}

Go

sequential_worker.go

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
  tasks := make(chan int, 5)

  // Single worker goroutine — tasks execute sequentially
  go func() {
    for taskID := range tasks {
      fmt.Printf("Task %d executed\n", taskID)
    }
  }()

  for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
    tasks <- i
  }
  close(tasks)
}

---

ForkJoinPool: Work Stealing

ForkJoinPool uses a work-stealing algorithm for divide-and-conquer tasks.

Visual: Work Stealing

Example: Parallel Merge Sort with ForkJoinPool

Java

ForkJoinMergeSort.java

import java.util.concurrent.ForkJoinPool;
import java.util.concurrent.RecursiveAction;

public class ForkJoinMergeSort {
    static class MergeSortTask extends RecursiveAction {
        private final int[] array;
        private final int left;
        private final int right;

        MergeSortTask(int[] array, int left, int right) {
            this.array = array;
            this.left = left;
            this.right = right;
        }

        @Override
        protected void compute() {
            if (right - left < 10) {
                // Base case: sort directly
                insertionSort(array, left, right);
            } else {
                // Divide: split into two halves
                int mid = (left + right) / 2;
                MergeSortTask leftTask = new MergeSortTask(array, left, mid);
                MergeSortTask rightTask = new MergeSortTask(array, mid + 1, right);

                // Fork: execute subtasks in parallel
                invokeAll(leftTask, rightTask);

                // Conquer: merge results
                merge(array, left, mid, right);
            }
        }

        private void insertionSort(int[] arr, int left, int right) {
            for (int i = left + 1; i <= right; i++) {
                int key = arr[i];
                int j = i - 1;
                while (j >= left && arr[j] > key) {
                    arr[j + 1] = arr[j];
                    j--;
                }
                arr[j + 1] = key;
            }
        }

        private void merge(int[] arr, int left, int mid, int right) {
            int[] temp = new int[right - left + 1];
            int i = left, j = mid + 1, k = 0;

            while (i <= mid && j <= right) {
                if (arr[i] <= arr[j]) {
                    temp[k++] = arr[i++];
                } else {
                    temp[k++] = arr[j++];
                }
            }

            while (i <= mid) temp[k++] = arr[i++];
            while (j <= right) temp[k++] = arr[j++];

            System.arraycopy(temp, 0, arr, left, temp.length);
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[] array = {64, 34, 25, 12, 22, 11, 90, 5};

        ForkJoinPool pool = ForkJoinPool.commonPool();
        MergeSortTask task = new MergeSortTask(array, 0, array.length - 1);
        pool.invoke(task);

        System.out.println("Sorted array: " + java.util.Arrays.toString(array));
    }
}

Go

parallel_merge_sort.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "sort"
  "sync"
)

func mergeSort(arr []int, wg *sync.WaitGroup) {
  defer wg.Done()
  if len(arr) < 10 {
    sort.Ints(arr) // base case
    return
  }

  mid := len(arr) / 2
  left := arr[:mid]
  right := arr[mid:]

  var innerWg sync.WaitGroup
  innerWg.Add(2)
  go mergeSort(left, &innerWg)
  go mergeSort(right, &innerWg)
  innerWg.Wait()

  // Merge in-place
  merged := make([]int, len(arr))
  i, j, k := 0, 0, 0
  for i < len(left) && j < len(right) {
    if left[i] <= right[j] {
      merged[k] = left[i]
      i++
    } else {
      merged[k] = right[j]
      j++
    }
    k++
  }
  copy(merged[k:], left[i:])
  copy(merged[k+len(left)-i:], right[j:])
  copy(arr, merged)
}

func main() {
  array := []int{64, 34, 25, 12, 22, 11, 90, 5}
  var wg sync.WaitGroup
  wg.Add(1)
  go mergeSort(array, &wg)
  wg.Wait()
  fmt.Println("Sorted array:", array)
}

RecursiveTask vs RecursiveAction

• RecursiveAction: For tasks that don’t return a value
• RecursiveTask: For tasks that return a value

Java

RecursiveTaskExample.java

import java.util.concurrent.ForkJoinPool;
import java.util.concurrent.RecursiveTask;

public class RecursiveTaskExample {
    static class SumTask extends RecursiveTask<Long> {
        private final int[] array;
        private final int start;
        private final int end;
        private static final int THRESHOLD = 1000;

        SumTask(int[] array, int start, int end) {
            this.array = array;
            this.start = start;
            this.end = end;
        }

        @Override
        protected Long compute() {
            if (end - start < THRESHOLD) {
                // Base case: compute directly
                long sum = 0;
                for (int i = start; i < end; i++) {
                    sum += array[i];
                }
                return sum;
            } else {
                // Divide
                int mid = (start + end) / 2;
                SumTask leftTask = new SumTask(array, start, mid);
                SumTask rightTask = new SumTask(array, mid, end);

                // Fork and join
                leftTask.fork();
                long rightResult = rightTask.compute();
                long leftResult = leftTask.join();

                return leftResult + rightResult;
            }
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[] array = new int[10000];
        for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
            array[i] = i + 1;
        }

        ForkJoinPool pool = ForkJoinPool.commonPool();
        SumTask task = new SumTask(array, 0, array.length);
        long result = pool.invoke(task);

        System.out.println("Sum: " + result);
    }
}

Go

parallel_sum.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "sync"
)

const threshold = 1000

func parallelSum(arr []int, wg *sync.WaitGroup, result *int64, mu *sync.Mutex) {
  defer wg.Done()
  if len(arr) < threshold {
    var sum int64
    for _, v := range arr {
      sum += int64(v)
    }
    mu.Lock()
    *result += sum
    mu.Unlock()
    return
  }

  mid := len(arr) / 2
  var innerWg sync.WaitGroup
  innerWg.Add(2)
  go parallelSum(arr[:mid], &innerWg, result, mu)
  go parallelSum(arr[mid:], &innerWg, result, mu)
  innerWg.Wait()
}

func main() {
  array := make([]int, 10000)
  for i := range array {
    array[i] = i + 1
  }

  var result int64
  var mu sync.Mutex
  var wg sync.WaitGroup
  wg.Add(1)
  go parallelSum(array, &wg, &result, &mu)
  wg.Wait()

  fmt.Printf("Sum: %d\n", result)
}

---

Python concurrent.futures

Python’s concurrent.futures provides a high-level interface for thread and process pools.

ThreadPoolExecutor

Python

thread_pool_executor.py

from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
import time

def process_task(task_id):
    """I/O-bound task"""
    print(f"Task {task_id} started")
    time.sleep(1)  # Simulate I/O
    return f"Result from task {task_id}"

# Using context manager (recommended)
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
    # Submit tasks
    futures = [executor.submit(process_task, i) for i in range(10)]

    # Get results as they complete
    for future in as_completed(futures):
        result = future.result()
        print(result)

# Or use map
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
    results = executor.map(process_task, range(10))
    for result in results:
        print(result)

Go

thread_pool_executor.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "sync"
  "time"
)

func processTask(taskID int) string {
  fmt.Printf("Task %d started\n", taskID)
  time.Sleep(time.Second) // simulate I/O
  return fmt.Sprintf("Result from task %d", taskID)
}

func main() {
  const maxWorkers = 4
  tasks := make(chan int, 10)
  results := make(chan string, 10)
  var wg sync.WaitGroup

  // Start worker pool
  for w := 0; w < maxWorkers; w++ {
    wg.Add(1)
    go func() {
      defer wg.Done()
      for taskID := range tasks {
        result := processTask(taskID)
        results <- result
      }
    }()
  }

  // Submit tasks
  for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
    tasks <- i
  }
  close(tasks)

  // Close results when all workers done
  go func() {
    wg.Wait()
    close(results)
  }()

  for result := range results {
    fmt.Println(result)
  }
}

ProcessPoolExecutor

Python

process_pool_executor.py

from concurrent.futures import ProcessPoolExecutor
import time

def cpu_intensive_task(n):
    """CPU-bound task"""
    result = sum(i * i for i in range(n))
    return result

# ProcessPoolExecutor bypasses GIL
with ProcessPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
    futures = [executor.submit(cpu_intensive_task, 1000000)
               for _ in range(8)]

    results = [future.result() for future in futures]
    print(f"Results: {results}")

Go

process_pool_executor.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "os"
  "os/exec"
  "strconv"
  "sync"
)

// Go equivalent: spawn child processes for CPU-bound parallel work.
// Within a single process, goroutines already use all CPU cores.

func cpuIntensiveTask(n int) int {
  result := 0
  for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
    result += i * i
  }
  return result
}

func main() {
  if len(os.Args) > 1 && os.Args[1] == "-child" {
    result := cpuIntensiveTask(1_000_000)
    fmt.Println(result)
    return
  }

  var wg sync.WaitGroup
  for i := 0; i < 8; i++ {
    wg.Add(1)
    go func(idx int) {
      defer wg.Done()
      // Spawn a child process for true process isolation
      cmd := exec.Command(os.Args[0], "-child", strconv.Itoa(idx))
      out, _ := cmd.Output()
      fmt.Printf("Process %d result: %s", idx, out)
    }(i)
  }
  wg.Wait()
}

submit() vs map()

Python

submit_vs_map.py

from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor

def process_item(item):
    return item * 2

# submit() - returns Future objects
with ThreadPoolExecutor() as executor:
    futures = [executor.submit(process_item, i) for i in range(5)]
    results = [f.result() for f in futures]
    print(results)  # [0, 2, 4, 6, 8]

# map() - simpler, returns iterator
with ThreadPoolExecutor() as executor:
    results = list(executor.map(process_item, range(5)))
    print(results)  # [0, 2, 4, 6, 8]

Go

submit_vs_map.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "sync"
)

func processItem(item int) int {
  return item * 2
}

func main() {
  // submit() equivalent: individual goroutines with result channels
  results := make([]int, 5)
  var wg sync.WaitGroup
  for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
    wg.Add(1)
    idx := i
    go func() {
      defer wg.Done()
      results[idx] = processItem(idx)
    }()
  }
  wg.Wait()
  fmt.Println(results) // [0 2 4 6 8]

  // map() equivalent: process slice in parallel, collect ordered results
  inputs := []int{0, 1, 2, 3, 4}
  mapped := make([]int, len(inputs))
  var wg2 sync.WaitGroup
  for i, v := range inputs {
    wg2.Add(1)
    i, v := i, v
    go func() {
      defer wg2.Done()
      mapped[i] = processItem(v)
    }()
  }
  wg2.Wait()
  fmt.Println(mapped) // [0 2 4 6 8]
}

---

Sizing Thread Pools

Choosing the right thread pool size is crucial for performance!

Visual: Thread Pool Sizing

CPU-Bound Tasks

For CPU-bound tasks, use approximately N_cores threads.

Formula: N_threads = N_cores (or N_cores + 1)

Why? More threads than cores add overhead without benefit (context switching).

Python

cpu_bound_pool.py

import multiprocessing
from concurrent.futures import ProcessPoolExecutor

def cpu_task(n):
    return sum(i * i for i in range(n))

# Use number of CPU cores
num_cores = multiprocessing.cpu_count()
print(f"CPU cores: {num_cores}")

with ProcessPoolExecutor(max_workers=num_cores) as executor:
    results = executor.map(cpu_task, [1000000] * 8)
    print(list(results))

Java

CPUBoundPool.java

import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;

public class CPUBoundPool {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int cores = Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors();
        System.out.println("CPU cores: " + cores);

        // Use number of cores
        ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(cores);

        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            executor.submit(() -> {
                // CPU-intensive work
                long sum = 0;
                for (int j = 0; j < 1000000; j++) {
                    sum += j * j;
                }
                return sum;
            });
        }

        executor.shutdown();
    }
}

Go

cpu_bound_pool.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "runtime"
  "sync"
)

func cpuTask(n int) int {
  result := 0
  for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
    result += i * i
  }
  return result
}

func main() {
  numCores := runtime.NumCPU()
  fmt.Printf("CPU cores: %d\n", numCores)

  // Use a fixed pool sized to number of cores
  tasks := make(chan int, 8)
  var wg sync.WaitGroup

  for w := 0; w < numCores; w++ {
    wg.Add(1)
    go func() {
      defer wg.Done()
      for n := range tasks {
        cpuTask(n)
      }
    }()
  }

  for i := 0; i < 8; i++ {
    tasks <- 1_000_000
  }
  close(tasks)
  wg.Wait()
}

I/O-Bound Tasks

For I/O-bound tasks, use more threads to account for waiting time.

Formula: N_threads = N_cores * (1 + W/C)

• W = Wait time (I/O wait)
• C = Compute time (CPU time)

Example: 4 cores, 9s wait, 1s compute = 4 * (1 + 9/1) = 40 threads

Python

io_bound_pool.py

from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
import requests
import time

def fetch_url(url):
    """I/O-bound task"""
    response = requests.get(url)
    return response.status_code

# For I/O-bound, use more threads
# Example: 4 cores, 9s wait, 1s compute = 40 threads
num_threads = 40

with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=num_threads) as executor:
    urls = ["https://httpbin.org/delay/1"] * 100
    results = executor.map(fetch_url, urls)
    print(f"Processed {len(list(results))} URLs")

Java

IOBoundPool.java

import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;

public class IOBoundPool {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int cores = Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors();
        // For I/O-bound: more threads
        // Example: 4 cores * (1 + 9/1) = 40 threads
        int threads = cores * 10;  // Simplified calculation

        ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(threads);

        for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
            executor.submit(() -> {
                // I/O operation
                try {
                    Thread.sleep(1000);  // Simulate I/O wait
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
                }
            });
        }

        executor.shutdown();
    }
}

Go

io_bound_pool.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "net/http"
  "runtime"
  "sync"
)

func fetchURL(url string) int {
  resp, err := http.Get(url)
  if err != nil {
    return 0
  }
  defer resp.Body.Close()
  return resp.StatusCode
}

func main() {
  numCores := runtime.NumCPU()
  // For I/O-bound: N_cores * (1 + W/C), e.g. 4 * 10 = 40 goroutines
  numWorkers := numCores * 10

  urls := make(chan string, 100)
  var wg sync.WaitGroup

  for w := 0; w < numWorkers; w++ {
    wg.Add(1)
    go func() {
      defer wg.Done()
      for url := range urls {
        fetchURL(url)
      }
    }()
  }

  for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
    urls <- "https://httpbin.org/delay/1"
  }
  close(urls)
  wg.Wait()
  fmt.Printf("Processed 100 URLs with %d workers\n", numWorkers)
}

General Formula

Formula: N_threads = N_cores * U_CPU * (1 + W/C)

• U_CPU = Target CPU utilization (0.0 to 1.0)
• W = Wait time
• C = Compute time

Considerations:

• System load
• Memory constraints
• Task characteristics
• Response time requirements

---

Shutdown Handling

Proper shutdown is crucial to avoid resource leaks and ensure clean termination.

Visual: Shutdown Flow

Example: Proper Shutdown

Java

ShutdownExample.java

import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class ShutdownExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
        ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(4);

        // Submit tasks
        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            executor.submit(() -> {
                try {
                    Thread.sleep(1000);
                    System.out.println("Task completed");
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    System.out.println("Task interrupted");
                    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
                }
            });
        }

        // Graceful shutdown
        executor.shutdown();  // Stop accepting new tasks

        try {
            // Wait for tasks to complete
            if (!executor.awaitTermination(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
                // Force shutdown if timeout
                executor.shutdownNow();
                if (!executor.awaitTermination(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
                    System.err.println("Pool did not terminate");
                }
            }
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            executor.shutdownNow();
            Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
        }
    }
}

Python

shutdown_example.py

from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
import time

def task(n):
    time.sleep(1)
    return n * 2

# Context manager handles shutdown automatically
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
    futures = [executor.submit(task, i) for i in range(10)]
    results = [f.result() for f in futures]
    print(results)

# Manual shutdown
executor = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4)
futures = [executor.submit(task, i) for i in range(10)]

executor.shutdown(wait=True)  # Wait for all tasks
results = [f.result() for f in futures]

Go

shutdown_example.go

package main

import (
  "context"
  "fmt"
  "sync"
  "time"
)

func main() {
  ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 60*time.Second)
  defer cancel()

  tasks := make(chan int, 10)
  var wg sync.WaitGroup

  // Start workers
  for w := 0; w < 4; w++ {
    wg.Add(1)
    go func() {
      defer wg.Done()
      for taskID := range tasks {
        select {
        case <-ctx.Done():
          fmt.Println("Task interrupted by context")
          return
        default:
          time.Sleep(time.Second)
          fmt.Printf("Task %d completed\n", taskID)
        }
      }
    }()
  }

  // Submit tasks
  for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
    tasks <- i
  }
  close(tasks) // graceful shutdown: no more tasks

  wg.Wait()
  fmt.Println("All workers shut down cleanly")
}

---

Future and Callable

Future objects represent the result of an asynchronous computation.

Visual: Future Pattern

Example: Using Future

Java

FutureExample.java

import java.util.concurrent.*;

public class FutureExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException {
        ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(4);

        // Submit Callable (returns value)
        Future<Integer> future = executor.submit(() -> {
            Thread.sleep(2000);
            return 42;
        });

        // Do other work
        System.out.println("Doing other work...");

        // Get result (blocks until ready)
        Integer result = future.get();
        System.out.println("Result: " + result);

        executor.shutdown();
    }
}

Python

future_example.py

from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
import time

def compute_value(n):
    time.sleep(2)
    return n * 2

with ThreadPoolExecutor() as executor:
    # Submit returns Future immediately
    future = executor.submit(compute_value, 21)

    # Do other work
    print("Doing other work...")

    # Get result (blocks until ready)
    result = future.result()
    print(f"Result: {result}")

Go

future_example.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "time"
)

func computeValue(n int) int {
  time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
  return n * 2
}

func main() {
  // Go's equivalent of Future: send result through a channel
  resultCh := make(chan int, 1)

  go func() {
    resultCh <- computeValue(21)
  }()

  // Do other work while waiting
  fmt.Println("Doing other work...")

  // Receive result (blocks until ready)
  result := <-resultCh
  fmt.Printf("Result: %d\n", result)
}

---

Practice Problems

Easy: Process Tasks with Thread Pool

Use a thread pool to process a list of tasks concurrently.

Solution

Python

from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor

def process_task(item):
    return item * 2

items = list(range(10))

with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
    results = list(executor.map(process_task, items))
    print(results)

Java

import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.stream.IntStream;

ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(4);
IntStream.range(0, 10)
    .forEach(i -> executor.submit(() -> System.out.println(i * 2)));
executor.shutdown();

Go

practice_worker_pool.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "sync"
)

func processTask(item int) int {
  return item * 2
}

func main() {
  items := make([]int, 10)
  for i := range items {
    items[i] = i
  }

  results := make([]int, len(items))
  tasks := make(chan int, len(items))
  var wg sync.WaitGroup

  // Worker pool with 4 goroutines
  for w := 0; w < 4; w++ {
    wg.Add(1)
    go func() {
      defer wg.Done()
      for item := range tasks {
        results[item] = processTask(item)
      }
    }()
  }

  for _, item := range items {
    tasks <- item
  }
  close(tasks)
  wg.Wait()

  fmt.Println(results)
}

---

Interview Questions

Q1: “How would you size a thread pool for CPU-bound vs I/O-bound tasks?”

Answer:

• CPU-bound: N_threads = N_cores (more threads waste resources)
• I/O-bound: N_threads = N_cores * (1 + W/C) where W=wait time, C=compute time
• Reason: I/O-bound tasks spend time waiting, so more threads can be utilized

Q2: “What’s the difference between FixedThreadPool and CachedThreadPool?”

Answer:

• FixedThreadPool: Fixed threads, unbounded queue, threads live until shutdown
• CachedThreadPool: Creates threads on demand, no queue, idle threads terminated after 60s
• Use FixedThreadPool: Predictable workloads, CPU-bound tasks
• Use CachedThreadPool: Short-lived tasks, I/O-bound, unpredictable workloads

Q3: “How does work stealing work in ForkJoinPool?”

Answer:

• Each thread has its own deque (double-ended queue)
• Threads push/pop from their own deque (LIFO)
• When a thread’s deque is empty, it steals from the tail of another thread’s deque
• Benefits: Better load balancing, higher CPU utilization
• Ideal for: Divide-and-conquer algorithms, recursive tasks

Q4: “When would you use ProcessPoolExecutor vs ThreadPoolExecutor in Python?”

Answer:

• ProcessPoolExecutor: CPU-bound tasks (bypasses GIL), true parallelism
• ThreadPoolExecutor: I/O-bound tasks (GIL released during I/O), lower overhead
• Choose based on: Task type (CPU vs I/O), not just performance

---

Key Takeaways

Remember

• Thread pools reuse threads, reducing overhead
• FixedThreadPool: Fixed threads, good for CPU-bound
• CachedThreadPool: Dynamic threads, good for I/O-bound
• ForkJoinPool: Work stealing for divide-and-conquer
• Size correctly: CPU-bound = N_cores, I/O-bound = N_cores * (1 + W/C)
• Shutdown properly: Always call shutdown() and awaitTermination()
• Use Futures: For getting results from asynchronous tasks

---

Next Steps

Continue learning concurrency:

• Concurrent Collections - Thread-safe data structures
• Asynchronous Patterns - Futures and async/await

Mastering thread pools is essential for building efficient concurrent systems! ⚙️