Concurrency: Threads, Executors, and Virtual Threads

Java's concurrency model has evolved from raw threads (Java 1.0) through the ExecutorService framework (Java 5) to Virtual Threads (Java 21). This page covers the practical patterns you need for everyday concurrent programming.

Thread basics

// Option 1: Runnable (preferred -- does not return a value)
Runnable task = () -> System.out.println("Hello from " + Thread.currentThread().getName());
Thread thread = new Thread(task);
thread.start();   // starts a new OS thread
thread.join();    // wait for completion

// Option 2: Callable (returns a value, can throw)
Callable<Integer> computation = () -> {
    Thread.sleep(1000);
    return 42;
};

Never call thread.run() -- that executes on the current thread. Always use thread.start().

ExecutorService

Instead of managing threads manually, use an ExecutorService to manage a thread pool:

// Fixed thread pool -- good for CPU-bound work
ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(4);

// Submit tasks
Future<Integer> future = executor.submit(() -> {
    Thread.sleep(1000);
    return 42;
});

// Get result (blocks until done)
Integer result = future.get();              // 42
Integer result = future.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS); // with timeout

// Shut down when done
executor.shutdown();
executor.awaitTermination(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

Thread pool types

Factory method	Behaviour	Use case
`newFixedThreadPool(n)`	Fixed number of threads	CPU-bound work (n = number of cores)
`newCachedThreadPool()`	Creates threads as needed, reuses idle threads	Short-lived, bursty I/O tasks
`newSingleThreadExecutor()`	Single thread, tasks queued	Sequential background processing
`newScheduledThreadPool(n)`	Scheduled/periodic execution	Timed tasks, polling
`newVirtualThreadPerTaskExecutor()`	One virtual thread per task (Java 21+)	High-concurrency I/O

CompletableFuture

CompletableFuture is Java's equivalent of JavaScript's Promise -- it supports chaining, combining, and error handling:

Basic chaining

CompletableFuture<String> future = CompletableFuture
    .supplyAsync(() -> fetchUserName(userId))      // runs on ForkJoinPool
    .thenApply(name -> name.toUpperCase())         // transform result
    .thenApply(name -> "Hello, " + name);          // chain another transform

String greeting = future.join(); // blocks and returns result
// "Hello, ALICE"

Error handling

CompletableFuture<String> future = CompletableFuture
    .supplyAsync(() -> riskyOperation())
    .thenApply(String::toUpperCase)
    .exceptionally(ex -> {
        System.err.println("Failed: " + ex.getMessage());
        return "DEFAULT";
    });

Combining futures

CompletableFuture<String> nameFuture = CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> fetchName());
CompletableFuture<Integer> ageFuture = CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> fetchAge());

// Combine two futures
CompletableFuture<String> combined = nameFuture.thenCombine(ageFuture,
    (name, age) -> name + " is " + age + " years old");

// Wait for all
CompletableFuture<Void> all = CompletableFuture.allOf(nameFuture, ageFuture);
all.join();

// Wait for first
CompletableFuture<Object> any = CompletableFuture.anyOf(nameFuture, ageFuture);

Running on a specific executor

ExecutorService myPool = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(4);

CompletableFuture<String> future = CompletableFuture
    .supplyAsync(() -> fetchData(), myPool)         // run on myPool
    .thenApplyAsync(data -> process(data), myPool); // also on myPool

Timeout (Java 9+)

CompletableFuture<String> future = CompletableFuture
    .supplyAsync(() -> slowOperation())
    .orTimeout(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)                    // throws TimeoutException
    .completeOnTimeout("fallback", 5, TimeUnit.SECONDS); // returns default

Virtual Threads (Java 21)

Virtual threads are lightweight threads managed by the JVM, not the OS. You can create millions of them without exhausting memory or OS thread limits.

Creating virtual threads

// Option 1: Thread.startVirtualThread
Thread vt = Thread.startVirtualThread(() -> {
    System.out.println("Running on: " + Thread.currentThread());
});

// Option 2: Thread.ofVirtual()
Thread vt = Thread.ofVirtual()
    .name("my-vthread")
    .start(() -> doWork());

// Option 3: ExecutorService (recommended for production)
try (var executor = Executors.newVirtualThreadPerTaskExecutor()) {
    List<Future<String>> futures = new ArrayList<>();

    for (int i = 0; i < 10_000; i++) {
        futures.add(executor.submit(() -> fetchData()));
    }

    for (Future<String> f : futures) {
        System.out.println(f.get());
    }
} // auto-shutdown

Virtual vs platform threads

Aspect	Platform threads	Virtual threads
Managed by	OS kernel	JVM
Memory per thread	~1 MB stack	~few KB
Max count	Thousands	Millions
Best for	CPU-bound work	I/O-bound work (HTTP, DB, file)
Blocking cost	Expensive (blocks OS thread)	Cheap (JVM parks the virtual thread)
Thread pool needed	Yes	No (one per task is fine)
Synchronized blocks	Fine	Can "pin" carrier thread (use `ReentrantLock` instead)

When to use virtual threads

// GOOD: I/O-bound workload (HTTP calls, DB queries)
try (var executor = Executors.newVirtualThreadPerTaskExecutor()) {
    List<Future<Response>> futures = urls.stream()
        .map(url -> executor.submit(() -> httpClient.send(url)))
        .toList();

    for (var f : futures) {
        process(f.get());
    }
}

// BAD: CPU-bound workload (number crunching)
// Virtual threads add scheduling overhead without benefit
// Use a fixed thread pool sized to CPU cores instead

Avoiding pinning

Virtual threads are pinned (cannot be parked) inside synchronized blocks when they perform blocking operations. Use ReentrantLock instead:

// BAD: can pin the carrier thread
synchronized (lock) {
    connection.query("SELECT ...");  // blocking I/O inside synchronized
}

// GOOD: ReentrantLock does not pin
private final ReentrantLock lock = new ReentrantLock();

lock.lock();
try {
    connection.query("SELECT ...");
} finally {
    lock.unlock();
}

Thread safety

Immutability (best approach)

// Records are immutable by default
record Config(String host, int port) {}

// Shared safely between threads with no synchronisation needed
Config config = new Config("localhost", 8080);

Atomic variables

AtomicInteger counter = new AtomicInteger(0);

// Thread-safe increment
counter.incrementAndGet();
counter.addAndGet(5);
counter.compareAndSet(5, 10);

// AtomicReference for objects
AtomicReference<String> ref = new AtomicReference<>("initial");
ref.updateAndGet(s -> s.toUpperCase());

Synchronized blocks

private final Object lock = new Object();
private int balance = 0;

void deposit(int amount) {
    synchronized (lock) {
        balance += amount;
    }
}

ReentrantLock

More flexible than synchronized (try-lock, timed lock, interruptible):

private final ReentrantLock lock = new ReentrantLock();

void deposit(int amount) {
    lock.lock();
    try {
        balance += amount;
    } finally {
        lock.unlock();  // always in finally!
    }
}

// Try with timeout
if (lock.tryLock(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
    try { /* critical section */ }
    finally { lock.unlock(); }
} else {
    // Could not acquire lock within timeout
}

Practical example: parallel HTTP fetcher

record UrlResult(String url, int status, String body) {}

List<UrlResult> fetchAll(List<String> urls) {
    HttpClient client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();

    try (var executor = Executors.newVirtualThreadPerTaskExecutor()) {
        List<Future<UrlResult>> futures = urls.stream()
            .map(url -> executor.submit(() -> {
                HttpRequest req = HttpRequest.newBuilder(URI.create(url)).build();
                HttpResponse<String> resp = client.send(req, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
                return new UrlResult(url, resp.statusCode(), resp.body());
            }))
            .toList();

        return futures.stream()
            .map(f -> {
                try { return f.get(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS); }
                catch (Exception e) { return new UrlResult("error", -1, e.getMessage()); }
            })
            .toList();
    }
}

Common pitfalls

Pitfall	Problem	Fix
Shared mutable state	Race conditions, data corruption	Use immutable objects, AtomicXxx, or synchronisation
`thread.run()` instead of `start()`	Runs on the calling thread, not a new thread	Always call `start()`
Not shutting down ExecutorService	Thread pool keeps the JVM alive	Call `shutdown()` in a finally block or use try-with-resources (Java 21+)
Catching `InterruptedException` and ignoring it	Breaks interrupt-based cancellation	Re-interrupt: `Thread.currentThread().interrupt()`
Deadlock	Two threads each waiting for the other's lock	Lock ordering, timeout-based locking, or lock-free designs
`synchronized` with virtual threads	Pins the carrier thread during blocking I/O	Use `ReentrantLock` instead
Thread pool sized to available processors for I/O work	Threads block on I/O, pool is underutilised	Use virtual threads or a larger cached pool for I/O
`Future.get()` without timeout	Blocks forever if the task never completes	Always use `get(timeout, unit)`

Thread basics​

ExecutorService​

Thread pool types​

CompletableFuture​

Basic chaining​

Error handling​

Combining futures​

Running on a specific executor​

Timeout (Java 9+)​

Virtual Threads (Java 21)​

Creating virtual threads​

Virtual vs platform threads​

When to use virtual threads​

Avoiding pinning​

Thread safety​

Immutability (best approach)​

Atomic variables​

Synchronized blocks​

ReentrantLock​

Practical example: parallel HTTP fetcher​

Common pitfalls​

See also​