我們都知道創建一個線程有兩種方式一是繼承Thread,一是實現Runnable接口。
那麼java面試基本必問的一個問題就是這兩種方式有什麼區別。
其實區別有很多，簡單講Thread類本身也是實現了Runnable接口的。
所以繼承了Thread類的線程類 都擁有實現Runnable接口的基本特性，但是實現了Runnable接口的線程類卻不一定有Thread類的一些特性。
看看源碼吧更清晰一點：
public
class Thread implements Runnable {
/* Make sure registerNatives is the first thing <clinit> does. */
private static native void registerNatives();
static {
registerNatives();
}
private char name[];
private int priority;
private Thread threadQ;
private long eetop;
/* Whether or not to single_step this thread. */
private boolean single_step;
/* Whether or not the thread is a daemon thread. */
private boolean daemon = false;
/* JVM state */
private boolean stillborn = false;
/* What will be run. */
private Runnable target;
/* The group of this thread */
private ThreadGroup group;
/* The context ClassLoader for this thread */
private ClassLoader contextClassLoader;
/* The inherited AccessControlContext of this thread */
private AccessControlContext inheritedAccessControlContext;
/* For autonumbering anonymous threads. */
private static int threadInitNumber;
private static synchronized int nextThreadNum() {
return threadInitNumber++;
}
/* ThreadLocal values pertaining to this thread. This map is maintained
* by the ThreadLocal class. */
ThreadLocal.ThreadLocalMap threadLocals = null;
/*
* InheritableThreadLocal values pertaining to this thread. This map is
* maintained by the InheritableThreadLocal class.
*/
ThreadLocal.ThreadLocalMap inheritableThreadLocals = null;
/*
* The requested stack size for this thread, or 0 if the creator did
* not specify a stack size. It is up to the VM to do whatever it
* likes with this number; some VMs will ignore it.
*/
private long stackSize;
/*
* JVM-private state that persists after native thread termination.
*/
private long nativeParkEventPointer;
/*
* Thread ID
*/
private long tid;
/* For generating thread ID */
private static long threadSeqNumber;
/* Java thread status for tools,
* initialized to indicate thread 'not yet started'
*/
private volatile int threadStatus = 0;
private static synchronized long nextThreadID() {
return ++threadSeqNumber;
}
/**
* The argument supplied to the current call to
* java.util.concurrent.locks.LockSupport.park.
* Set by (private) java.util.concurrent.locks.LockSupport.setBlocker
* Accessed using java.util.concurrent.locks.LockSupport.getBlocker
*/
volatile Object parkBlocker;
/* The object in which this thread is blocked in an interruptible I/O
* operation, if any. The blocker's interrupt method should be invoked
* after setting this thread's interrupt status.
*/
private volatile Interruptible blocker;
private final Object blockerLock = new Object();
貼了一小段，可以看到很清楚Thread類實現了Runnable接口。
而Runnable接口的定義則很簡單：
* Copyright (c) 1994, 2005, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
package java.lang;
/**
* The <code>Runnable</code> interface should be implemented by any
* class whose instances are intended to be executed by a thread. The
* class must define a method of no arguments called <code>run</code>.
* <p>
* This interface is designed to provide a common protocol for objects that
* wish to execute code while they are active. For example,
* <code>Runnable</code> is implemented by class <code>Thread</code>.
* Being active simply means that a thread has been started and has not
* yet been stopped.
* <p>
* In addition, <code>Runnable</code> provides the means for a class to be
* active while not subclassing <code>Thread</code>. A class that implements
* <code>Runnable</code> can run without subclassing <code>Thread</code>
* by instantiating a <code>Thread</code> instance and passing itself in
* as the target. In most cases, the <code>Runnable</code> interface should
* be used if you are only planning to override the <code>run()</code>
* method and no other <code>Thread</code> methods.
* This is important because classes should not be subclassed
* unless the programmer intends on modifying or enhancing the fundamental
* behavior of the class.
*
* @author Arthur van Hoff
* @see java.lang.Thread
* @see java.util.concurrent.Callable
* @since JDK1.0
*/
public
interface Runnable {
/**
* When an object implementing interface <code>Runnable</code> is used
* to create a thread, starting the thread causes the object's
* <code>run</code> method to be called in that separately executing
* thread.
* <p>
* The general contract of the method <code>run</code> is that it may
* take any action whatsoever.
*
* @see java.lang.Thread#run()
*/
public abstract void run();
}
可以看到 如果我們編寫了一個類，如果是繼承的Thread類，可以重寫run方法之後，實例化一個對象之後可以直接start,如果是實現了Runnable接口的類則實例化之後只能執行run方法，必須通過new Thread(Runnable runable)方法將線程類轉化爲Thread類 纔可以start
這裏講述一下 start()和run()方法的區別，run是直接執行run方法的內容，start方法我們來看一下源碼：
/**
* Causes this thread to begin execution; the Java Virtual Machine
* calls the <code>run</code> method of this thread.
* <p>
* The result is that two threads are running concurrently: the
* current thread (which returns from the call to the
* <code>start</code> method) and the other thread (which executes its
* <code>run</code> method).
* <p>
* It is never legal to start a thread more than once.
* In particular, a thread may not be restarted once it has completed
* execution.
*
* @exception IllegalThreadStateException if the thread was already
* started.
* @see #run()
* @see #stop()
*/
public synchronized void start() {
/**
* This method is not invoked for the main method thread or "system"
* group threads created/set up by the VM. Any new functionality added
* to this method in the future may have to also be added to the VM.
*
* A zero status value corresponds to state "NEW".
*/
if (threadStatus != 0)
throw new IllegalThreadStateException();
/* Notify the group that this thread is about to be started
* so that it can be added to the group's list of threads
* and the group's unstarted count can be decremented. */
group.add(this);
boolean started = false;
try {
start0();
started = true;
} finally {
try {
if (!started) {
group.threadStartFailed(this);
}
} catch (Throwable ignore) {
/* do nothing. If start0 threw a Throwable then
it will be passed up the call stack */
}
}
}
private native void start0();
注意此處調用的是start0（）。並且這個這個方法用了native關鍵字，該關鍵字表示調用本地操作系統的函數。因爲多線程的實現需要本地操作系統的支持。
當然Thread類中也有對Runnable接口的run方法的實現：
/**
* If this thread was constructed using a separate
* <code>Runnable</code> run object, then that
* <code>Runnable</code> object's <code>run</code> method is called;
* otherwise, this method does nothing and returns.
* <p>
* Subclasses of <code>Thread</code> should override this method.
*
* @see #start()
* @see #stop()
* @see #Thread(ThreadGroup, Runnable, String)
*/
@Override
public void run() {
if (target != null) {
target.run();
}
}
因此 run方法只是一次執行並沒有開啓新的線程，start是系統級別開啓一個線程然後在新的線程裏面執行run方法。
此外 我們可以看到Thread類中內置了很對變量和方法，這都是Runable接口所沒有的，其中比較關鍵的有：
private char name[];
private int priority;
private Thread threadQ;
private ThreadGroup group;
private static int threadInitNumber;
private long tid;
/* For generating thread ID */
private static long threadSeqNumber;
/* Java thread status for tools,
* initialized to indicate thread 'not yet started'
*/
private volatile int threadStatus = 0;