8
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Here is the culprit; headers omitted for brevity, and also, see notes afterwards:

/**
 * A GUI-neutral background task executor
 *
 * <p>A very common scenario when programming with GUI toolkits is the need to
 * perform operations in the background without blocking the "UI thread" (this
 * would be the infamous EDT, or Event Dispatch Thread, with Swing, or the
 * application thread with JavaFX).</p>
 *
 * <p>Such toolkits, however, always provide a means to postpone tasks to be
 * executed on this UI thread; for Swing, that would be {@link
 * SwingUtilities#invokeLater(Runnable)}, and for JavaFX, {@link
 * Platform#runLater(Runnable)}. What they do not always provide is a tool to
 * bind a task to be executed in the background to a related task to be executed
 * in the UI thread.</p>
 *
 * <p>And this is where this class comes in. An instance of this class allows
 * you to perform, in a single method call, both the act of invoking the
 * background task and schedule the related UI task when the background task is
 * done. Example:</p>
 *
 * <pre>
 *     // If you use JavaFX...
 *     final BackgroundTaskRunner taskRunner
 *         = new BackgroundTaskRunner("myapp-%d", Platform::runLater);
 *     // If you use Swing...
 *     final BackgroundTaskRunner taskRunner
 *         = new BackgroundTaskRunner("myapp-%d", SwingUtilities::invokeLater);
 *
 *     // ...
 *
 *     taskRunner.run(
 *         () -> { my(); background(); task(); here(); },
 *         () -> { postponed(); ui(); update(); here(); }
 *     );
 * </pre>
 *
 * <p>You can also bind a frontend task to consume a value produced by the given
 * backgound task; for instance, if you have two methods:</p>
 *
 * <pre>
 *     public Foo backgroundProducer()
 *     {
 *         // procude a Foo
 *     }
 *
 *     public void frontendConsumer(final Foo foo)
 *     {
 *         // consume a Foo
 *     }
 * </pre>
 *
 * <p>you will then be able to invoke:</p>
 *
 * <pre>
 *     taskRunner.compute(
 *         () -> this::backgroundProducer,
 *         () -> this::frontendConsumer
 *     );
 * </pre>
 *
 * <p>Those are the two basic mechanisms. Three variants of each of these exist:
 * </p>
 *
 * <ul>
 *     <li>a variant which also accepts a task to execute on the UI thread
 *     before the background task;</li>
 *     <li>a variant which allows to use tasks which throw exceptions, with an
 *     exception handler;</li>
 *     <li>a variant which accepts both of the above.</li>
 * </ul>
 *
 * <p>For the two latter variants, this library makes use of <a
 * href="https://github.com/fge/throwing-lambdas">throwing-lambdas</a>.</p>
 *
 * <p>Note that the constructors and methods of this class do not accept null
 * arguments; if a null argument is passed, a {@link NullPointerException} will
 * be thrown.</p>
 *
 * @see ExecutorService
 * @see Executor
 * @see ThrowingRunnable
 * @see ThrowingSupplier
 */
@ParametersAreNonnullByDefault
public final class BackgroundTaskRunner
{
    private final ExecutorService executor;
    private final Executor frontExecutor;

    /**
     * Main constructor
     *
     * <p>This will build a {@link Executors#newCachedThreadPool(ThreadFactory)
     * cache thread pool executor} whose threads are {@link
     * Thread#setDaemon(boolean) daemon threads}.</p>
     *
     * @param fmt the thread name format string
     * @param frontExecutor the frontend executor
     *
     * @see ThreadFactoryBuilder#setNameFormat(String)
     * @see ThreadFactoryBuilder#setDaemon(boolean)
     */
    public BackgroundTaskRunner(final String fmt, final Executor frontExecutor)
    {
        Objects.requireNonNull(fmt);
        Objects.requireNonNull(frontExecutor);

        final ThreadFactory factory = new ThreadFactoryBuilder()
            .setNameFormat(fmt).setDaemon(true).build();
        executor = Executors.newCachedThreadPool(factory);
        this.frontExecutor = frontExecutor;
    }

    /**
     * Alternate constructor
     *
     * <p>This constructor is useful if, for instance, you want to test your
     * application interactions without actually creating new threads. An
     * example of using such a constructor would be:</p>
     *
     * <pre>
     *     private final ExecutorService executor
     *         = MoreExecutors.newDirectExecutorService();
     *     private final BackgroundTaskRunner testTaskRunner
     *         = new BackgroundTaskRunner(executor, Runnable::run);
     * </pre>
     *
     * @param executor the executor
     * @param frontExecutor the frontend executor
     */
    public BackgroundTaskRunner(final ExecutorService executor,
        final Executor frontExecutor)
    {
        this.executor = Objects.requireNonNull(executor);
        this.frontExecutor = Objects.requireNonNull(frontExecutor);
    }

    /**
     * Run a task in the background; schedule a task to run on the ui thread
     * after the background task completes
     *
     * @param task the background task
     * @param after the task to run on the ui thread
     */
    public void run(final Runnable task, final Runnable after)
    {
        Objects.requireNonNull(task);
        Objects.requireNonNull(after);

        executor.execute(() -> {
            task.run();
            frontExecutor.execute(after);
        });
    }

    /**
     * Run a task in the background producing a value; schedule a task consuming
     * that value to run on the UI thread
     *
     * @param supplier the background task producing a value
     * @param consumer the UI thread task consuming that value
     * @param <T> type parameter of the produced/consume value
     */
    public <T> void compute(final Supplier<? extends T> supplier,
        final Consumer<? super T> consumer)
    {
        Objects.requireNonNull(supplier);
        Objects.requireNonNull(consumer);

        executor.submit(() -> {
            final T t = supplier.get();
            frontExecutor.execute(() -> consumer.accept(t));
        });
    }

    /**
     * Run a preliminary task on the UI thread; run a background task; schedule
     * a task to run on the UI thread after the background task completes
     *
     * @param before the preliminary task
     * @param task the background task
     * @param after the task to run on the ui thread
     */
    public void run(final Runnable before, final Runnable task,
        final Runnable after)
    {
        Objects.requireNonNull(before);
        Objects.requireNonNull(task);
        Objects.requireNonNull(after);

        frontExecutor.execute(before);

        executor.submit(() -> {
            task.run();
            frontExecutor.execute(after);
        });
    }

    /**
     * Run a preliminary task on the UI thread; run a task in the background
     * producing a value; schedule a task consuming that value on the UI thread
     *
     * @param before the preliminary task
     * @param supplier the background task producing a value
     * @param consumer the UI thread task consuming that value
     * @param <T> type parameter of the produced/consume value
     */
    public <T> void compute(final Runnable before,
        final Supplier<? extends T> supplier,
        final Consumer<? super T> consumer)
    {
        Objects.requireNonNull(before);
        Objects.requireNonNull(supplier);
        Objects.requireNonNull(consumer);

        frontExecutor.execute(before);

        executor.submit(() -> {
            final T t = supplier.get();
            frontExecutor.execute(() -> consumer.accept(t));
        });
    }

    /**
     * Run a task on the background thread potentially throwing an exception;
     * schedule a task to run on the UI thread when the background task
     * completes successfully; specify an exception handler in the event of a
     * failure
     *
     * <p>Note that if the background task fails to complete, the UI thread task
     * will <em>not</em> be run.</p>
     *
     * @param task the potentially failing background task
     * @param after the task to run on the UI thread on success
     * @param onError the exception handler
     *
     * @see ThrowingRunnable#doRun()
     */
    public void runOrFail(final ThrowingRunnable task, final Runnable after,
        final Consumer<Throwable> onError)
    {
        Objects.requireNonNull(task);
        Objects.requireNonNull(after);
        Objects.requireNonNull(onError);

        executor.execute(() -> {
            try {
                task.doRun();
                frontExecutor.execute(after);
            } catch (Throwable throwable) {
                frontExecutor.execute(() -> onError.accept(throwable));
            }
        });
    }

    /**
     * Run a potentially failing producing task in the background; schedule a
     * consuming task to run on the UI thread on success; specify an exception
     * handler on failure
     *
     * <p>Note that if the background task fails to complete, the scheduled UI
     * thread task will <em>not</em> be run.</p>
     *
     * @param supplier the potentially failing producing task
     * @param consumer the consumer task to run on the UI thread
     * @param onError the exception handler
     * @param <T> type parameter of the produced/consumed value
     */
    public <T> void computeOrFail(
        final ThrowingSupplier<? extends T> supplier,
        final Consumer<? super T> consumer, final Consumer<Throwable> onError)
    {
        Objects.requireNonNull(supplier);
        Objects.requireNonNull(consumer);
        Objects.requireNonNull(onError);

        executor.submit(() -> {
            try {
                final T t = supplier.doGet();
                frontExecutor.execute(() -> consumer.accept(t));
            } catch (Throwable throwable) {
                frontExecutor.execute(() -> onError.accept(throwable));
            }
        });
    }

    /**
     * Schedule a task on the UI thread to run before the background task; run
     * a potentially failing background task; schedule a task to run on
     * successful completion of the background task; specify an exception
     * handler
     *
     * <p>Note that if the background task fails, the scheduled task to run on
     * the UI thread will <em>not</em> be executed.</p>
     *
     * @param before the task to schedule on the UI thread before the background
     * task
     * @param task the background task
     * @param after the task to schedule on the UI thread on successful
     * completion of the background task
     * @param onError the exception handler
     *
     * @see ThrowingRunnable#doRun()
     */
    public void runOrFail(final Runnable before, final ThrowingRunnable task,
        final Runnable after, final Consumer<Throwable> onError)
    {
        Objects.requireNonNull(before);
        Objects.requireNonNull(task);
        Objects.requireNonNull(after);
        Objects.requireNonNull(onError);

        frontExecutor.execute(before);

        executor.execute(() -> {
            try {
                task.doRun();
                frontExecutor.execute(after);
            } catch (Throwable throwable) {
                frontExecutor.execute(() -> onError.accept(throwable));
            }
        });
    }

    /**
     * Schedule a task on the UI thread to run before the background task; run
     * a background task producing a value; schedule a task to run on the UI
     * thread to consume that value on successful completion of the background
     * task; specify an exception handler
     *
     * <p>Note that if the background task fails to complete, the consuming task
     * will <em>not</em> be executed.</p>
     *
     * @param before task to be executed on the UI thread prior to scheduling
     * the background task
     * @param supplier background task producing a value
     * @param consumer UI thread task consuming the value on successful
     * completion of the background task
     * @param onError the exception handler
     * @param <T> parameter type of the produced/consumed value
     */
    public <T> void computeOrFail(final Runnable before,
        final ThrowingSupplier<? extends T> supplier,
        final Consumer<? super T> consumer, final Consumer<Throwable> onError)
    {
        Objects.requireNonNull(before);
        Objects.requireNonNull(supplier);
        Objects.requireNonNull(consumer);
        Objects.requireNonNull(onError);

        frontExecutor.execute(before);

        executor.submit(() -> {
            try {
                final T t = supplier.doGet();
                frontExecutor.execute(() -> consumer.accept(t));
            } catch (Throwable throwable) {
                frontExecutor.execute(() -> onError.accept(throwable));
            }
        });
    }

    public void dispose()
    {
        executor.shutdownNow();
    }
}

Notes:

  • ThrowingSupplier is defined in another of my project, throwing-lambdas;
  • ThrowingRunnable is not defined in the aforementioned project (but it is quite common so I might add it); the full definition is as follows:
@FunctionalInterface
public interface ThrowingRunnable
    extends Runnable
{
    void doRun()
        throws Throwable;

    @Override
    default void run()
    {
        try {
            doRun();
        } catch (Error | RuntimeException e) {
            throw e;
        } catch (Throwable tooBad) {
            throw new ThrownByLambdaException(tooBad);
        }
    }
}

Now, I have only started GUI programming for two weeks; one of my goals is to be able to use the same code base for this currently JavaFX application to program it as a webapp instead but nevermind that; the focus is on that particular utility class.

What do you make of the documentation? How would you improve it? Could I provide better examples? If you were to use it, would the documentation draw you to using it/scare you away? How can I improve it/improve the code?

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1
  • 8
    \$\begingroup\$ "WARNING: link may die in the future" Link did indeed die! If it still matters, could you kindly update it? (If it doesn't, please do remove it so it's not cluttering up your question) \$\endgroup\$
    – anon
    Commented Jun 19, 2015 at 20:05

1 Answer 1

2
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That's some tasty looking code.

I don't think I'm going to be able to find anything wrong with the implementation.

There's something to be said about the documentation, though...

/** <p>You can also bind a frontend task to consume a value produced by the given
 * backgound task; for instance, if you have two methods:</p>
 *
 * <pre>
 *     public Foo backgroundProducer()
 *     {
 *         // procude a Foo
 *     }
 *
 *     public void frontendConsumer(final Foo foo)
 *     {
 *         // consume a Foo
 *     }
 * </pre>
 *
 * <p>you will then be able to invoke:</p> */

"backgound task", "procude a Foo", lower-case y for "you will then be able to invoke"

... and that's that it's also pretty good, save for those few typo's.

If there's one thing you could do to improve the code, I think it would be providing error messages for Objects.requireNotNull.

Here's an exception thrown from Objects.requireNonNull(null):

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
  at java.util.Objects.requireNonNull(Objects.java:203)
  at Ideone.main(Main.java:15)

It's pretty darn useless at explaining what you did wrong.

Lets say we take your function...

public <T> void computeOrFail(final Runnable before,
    final ThrowingSupplier<? extends T> supplier,
    final Consumer<? super T> consumer, final Consumer<Throwable> onError)
{
    Objects.requireNonNull(before);
    Objects.requireNonNull(supplier);
    Objects.requireNonNull(consumer);
    Objects.requireNonNull(onError);

There's 4 parameters here that can give you a NullPointerException. And all of them look the same. The only difference given will be the line number.

You could save programmers a lot of effort by including a description of what is null. There's many ways to dress it up, and I don't know which one is best, but here's what you ought to do at minimum:

public <T> void computeOrFail(final Runnable before,
    final ThrowingSupplier<? extends T> supplier,
    final Consumer<? super T> consumer, final Consumer<Throwable> onError)
{
    Objects.requireNonNull(before, "before");
    Objects.requireNonNull(supplier, "supplier");
    Objects.requireNonNull(consumer, "consumer");
    Objects.requireNonNull(onError, "onError");

This will include the name of the argument in the stacktrace and makes debugging just that tiny bit easier.

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