The block(), blockfirst(), and blocklast() methods are blocking calls that are not supported in threads.
When a method is said to be blocking, it means that the execution of the code is paused until the operation initiated by that method is complete. This can cause the thread to wait or “block” until the operation finishes, which can lead to performance issues and unresponsiveness in applications.
In contrast, non-blocking methods allow the code to continue executing without waiting for the operation to complete. This ensures that the application remains responsive and can handle other tasks simultaneously.
Example:
Let’s consider a scenario where we have a simple program with two threads – a main thread and a worker thread. The main thread is responsible for initiating some time-consuming task, while the worker thread is responsible for performing the actual task. We’ll compare the effects of blocking and non-blocking methods in this scenario:
// Blocking approach
mainThread.block(); // main thread blocks here until worker thread completes its task
// Non-blocking approach
mainThread.execute(); // main thread continues executing without waiting for worker thread
In the blocking approach, the main thread calls the block() method, causing it to wait until the worker thread completes its task. This can lead to performance issues if the task takes a long time to finish, as the main thread will be unresponsive during this period.
On the other hand, in the non-blocking approach, the main thread initiates the task using some non-blocking method such as execute(). This allows the main thread to continue executing without waiting for the worker thread, keeping the application responsive.