Doubt in thread handling

Question

I have a doubt in the thread mechanism.....
Below is a sample of the class
public class SimpleThread extends Thread {
private int countDown = 5;
private static int threadCount = 0;
public SimpleThread() {
super("" + ++threadCount); // Store the thread name
start();
public String toString() {
return "#" + getName() + ": " + countDown;
public void run() {
while(true) {
System.out.println(this);
if(--countDown == 0) return;
public static void main(String[] args) {
for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
new SimpleThread();
There is a while loop checks for true.... I am not able to understand which it is referring to .
and i want to run the thread 5 times .... is it possible to run this using while loop... Because when i use while the loop never end...
Your guidance is much more appreciated...
Thankyou
Shasi

Answer 1

Hi,
sorry, but your question seems to be a little confusing.
shasi wrote:
I have a doubt in the thread mechanism.....Do you actually have a doubt or more something of a question? To me, it seems to be more of a question...
Below is a sample of the classPlease use the code tags to format your code for better readability...
public class SimpleThread extends Thread {
     private int countDown = 5;
     private static int threadCount = 0;
     public SimpleThread() {
          super("" + ++threadCount); // Store the thread name
          start();
     public String toString() {
          return "#" + getName() + ": " + countDown;
     public void run() {
          while(true) {
               System.out.println(this);
               if(--countDown == 0) return;
     public static void main(String[] args) {
          for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
               new SimpleThread();
There is a while loop checks for true.... I am not able to understand which it is referring to .What should it be referring to? The while loop has to be given some statement that evaluates to a boolean. This could either be something like a > 10 or simply true.
and i want to run the thread 5 times .... is it possible to run this using while loop... Because when i use while the loop never end...You do run the Thread five times. Or are you talking about executing the loop in your run() method for five times (which you also happen to do already)?
What do you want to run using a while loop?
The while loop will end: with each iteration, your countdown variable is being decremented, and as soon as it reaches zero, the return statement is executed breaking out of the while loop.
Bye.