Defining "multi-threaded"
Q
What do you mean when you use the adjective "multi-threaded"? (sturdy?)
A
"Java is multi-threaded."
Multi threaded is a term that means that the programming language is built to do lots of things at the same time.
Each "thing" is called a "thread".
Netscape Navigator is written in C++ which is a multi-threaded language.
Consider the benefits... in Netscape, when you go to get an HTML document from the web, the little Netscape icon on the top right starts spinning (animation).
If Netscape is going to get a document from the web, how can it also spin the icon?
It is only one program after all.
It can do so because it has the capability to do two things at once because the language itself gave the programer the tools to do it.
And of course, it can do more than just two things!
This is no trivial feat.
A multi threaded language needs to have embedded in it, the knowledge of how to juggle.
If you have ever tried to juggle, you will now that this is not as easy as it looks!
Now imagine how hard it is to juggle hardware resources in machine language! Yuck!
A multi-threaded language allows the programmer to easily create multiple threads of execution without worrying about the nitty gritty of actually implementing that on a CPU.
Selena Sol contributes to the JavaBoutique's Introduction to Java. Selena curently works for Barclays Capital in London, one of the leading global investment banks in Europe and has worked as a software developer for the National Center for Human Genome research, Microline Software, Neuron Data, and Electric Eye in Singapore. Selena is perhaps best-known for creating the Public Domain Web Script Archive (Extropia) and writing several books on Web Programming (Perl, CGI, Java).
Email: selena@extropia.com
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