Thread run and then start

Question

I'm trying to figure out what is the right answer for a following question:
what will be the result of compiling and running the following program?
public class TestThread extends Thread
     private int i;
     public void run()
          i++;
     public static void main(String[] args)
          TestThread a = new TestThread();
          a.run();
          System.out.print(a.i);
          a.start();
          System.out.print(a.i);
Select one option:
A - Compiler error
B - IllegalThreadStateException is thrown
C - Prints "11"
D - Prints "12"
E - Prints "00"
F - Prints "01"
G - Prints "11" or "12"
H - Print "00" or "01"
I think that correct answer is G however the problem is that don't understand how this code resulting "11" in Eclipse when running "run as java application" and "12" when running "debug as java application".
Edited by: 805011 on 25-Oct-2010 07:48

Answer 1

You're right, the answer is G ... but it's not because of the mode you run the application in. For instance, ...
public class TestThread extends Thread
private int i;
     public void run()
          i++;
     public static void main(String[] args)
          TestThread a = new TestThread();
          a.run();
          System.out.print(a.i);
          a.start();
                //Delay print
          for(int i = 0; i < 1000000000; i++)
          System.out.print(a.i);
}By setting a delay, I consistently get '12'. If I remove the delay, I consistently get '11'. So, are you catching my drift? In addition, if you wanted to make sure that the value of 'i' was always updated before the printout, then I'd recommend implementing something like this ...
boolean notDone = true;
while(notDone){
        if(!a.isAlive()){
          System.out.print(a.i);
          notDone = false;
}Regards,
meherts
Edited by: meherts on Oct 25, 2010 9:10 AM