How to "kill" AWT Event Queue thread without using System.exit()?

Question

When I run my program and the first GUI window is displayed a new thread is created - "AWT-Event Queue". When my program finishes, this thread stays alive and I think it causes some problems I have experienced lately.
Is there any possibility to "kill" this thread without using System.exit() (I can't use it for some specific reasons)

Answer 1

All threads are kept alive by the JVM session. When you use System.exit(int) you kill the current session, thus killing all threads. I'm not sure, though...
What you could do, to make sure all threads die, is to make ever thread you start member of a thread group. When you want to exit you app, you kill all the threads in the thread group before exit.
A small example:
//Should be declared somewhere
static ThreadGroup threadGroup = new ThreadGroup("My ThreadGroup");
class MyClass extends Thread {
super(threadGroup, "MyThread");
Thread thread = new Thread(threadGroup, "MySecondThread");
void exit() {
//Deprecated, seek alternative
threadGroup.stop();
System.exit(0);
}