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Re: Threads and UI in Android

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In article <inb4mo$2br$1@dont-email.me>, markspace <-@.> wrote:

> On 4/3/2011 3:16 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> > In message<8vs005F5tmU1@mid.individual.net>, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax wrote:
> >
> >> It would seem the answer is in here somewhere
> >> http://developer.android.com/resources/articles/painless-threading.html
> >
> > Seems like AsyncTask is the way to go: it automatically divides up execution
> > between a background thread and the UI thread, and takes care of all the
> > synchronization between the two for you.
> >
> > How much more painless can you get? :)
> 
> Given that the OP want's to "constantly [check] for messages" I think 
> the way he's doing it now is fine.  runOnUiThread() does the 
> synchronization that he needs, and it seems cleaner than trying to 
> wrap his deamon in an AsyncTask object and constantly call 
> publishProgress() whenever he gets a packet.
> 
> Modern threading is getting sophisticated, and one sophisticated 
> thing to do is to limit the number of threads so as to not overwhelm 
> the OS. Limited thread pools are used for this purpose.  I don't know 
> how AsynchTask is implemented, but if it uses a thread pool, you 
> could easily starve your own app of threads for AsynchTask by 
> permanently capturing too many AsynchTask threads, which is what the 
> OP's task would do.
> 
> "Long running" tasks relative to the UI response time go in 
> AsynchTask. "Really long running" tasks, or permanent tasks like the 
> OP's little network daemon, go in their own private thread.  Seems 
> safest that way.

I have no practical experience on android, but I was struck by the 
similarity between AsyncTask and SwingWorker:

<http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/AsyncTask.html>
<http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/javax/swing/SwingWorker.htm
l>

It appears to be of more recent vintage, and it supports either a 
SERIAL_EXECUTOR or THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR, with certain caveats for the 
latter.

-- 
John B. Matthews
trashgod at gmail dot com
<http://sites.google.com/site/drjohnbmatthews>

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Threads and UI in Android Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bruere@gmail.com> - 2011-04-03 19:16 +0100
  Re: Threads and UI in Android Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bruere@gmail.com> - 2011-04-03 20:27 +0100
    Re: Threads and UI in Android Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@geek-central.gen.new_zealand> - 2011-04-04 10:16 +1200
      Re: Threads and UI in Android markspace <-@.> - 2011-04-03 17:51 -0700
        Re: Threads and UI in Android "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-04-03 21:50 -0400
        Re: Threads and UI in Android Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bruere@gmail.com> - 2011-04-04 06:23 +0100
          Re: Threads and UI in Android Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@geek-central.gen.new_zealand> - 2011-04-04 18:48 +1200
            Re: Threads and UI in Android markspace <-@.> - 2011-04-04 17:31 -0700
          Re: Threads and UI in Android Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bruere@gmail.com> - 2011-04-04 19:18 +0100
            Re: Threads and UI in Android markspace <-@.> - 2011-04-04 14:54 -0700
              Re: Threads and UI in Android Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bruere@gmail.com> - 2011-04-04 23:41 +0100
                Re: Threads and UI in Android markspace <-@.> - 2011-04-04 16:29 -0700
                Re: Threads and UI in Android Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bruere@gmail.com> - 2011-04-05 00:32 +0100
                Re: Threads and UI in Android markspace <-@.> - 2011-04-04 17:27 -0700
                Re: Threads and UI in Android Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bruere@gmail.com> - 2011-04-05 01:30 +0100
                Re: Threads and UI in Android Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> - 2011-04-04 18:53 -0700
                Re: Threads and UI in Android Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bruere@gmail.com> - 2011-04-05 03:19 +0100
                Re: Threads and UI in Android Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> - 2011-04-04 23:04 -0700
                Re: Threads and UI in Android Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bruere@gmail.com> - 2011-04-05 08:04 +0100
    Re: Threads and UI in Android markspace <-@.> - 2011-04-03 17:29 -0700

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