Core pool size vs maximum pool size in ThreadPoolExecutor

Question

What exactly is the difference between core pool size and maximum pool size when we talk in terms of ThreadPoolExecutor?
C

Answer 1

IF running threads > corePoolSize & < maxPoolSize, then create a new Thread if Total task queue is full and new one is arriving.

Form doc: (If there are more than corePoolSize but less than maximumPoolSize threads running, a new thread will be created only if the queue is full.)

Now, Take a simple example,

ThreadPoolExecutor executorPool = new ThreadPoolExecutor(5, 10, 3, TimeUnit.SECONDS, new ArrayBlockingQueue<Runnable>(50));

Here, 5 is the corePoolSize - means Jvm will create new thread for new task for first 5 tasks. and other tasks will be added to the queue until queue is getting full (50 tasks).

10 is the maxPoolSize - JVM can create max 10 threads. Means if there are already 5 task/thread is running and queue is full with 50 pending tasks and if one more new request/task is arriving in queue then JVM will create new thread up to 10 (total threads=previous 5 + new 5);

new ArrayBlockingQueue(50) = is a total queue size - it can queue 50 tasks in it.

once all 10 threads are running and if new task is arriving then that new task will be rejected.

Rules for creating Threads internally by SUN:

1. If the number of threads is less than the corePoolSize, create a new Thread to run a new task.

2. If the number of threads is equal (or greater than) the corePoolSize, put the task into the queue.

3. If the queue is full, and the number of threads is less than the maxPoolSize, create a new thread to run tasks in.

4. If the queue is full, and the number of threads is greater than or equal to maxPoolSize, reject the task.

Hope, This is HelpFul.. and please correct me if i'm wrong...

Answer 2

Good explanation in this blog:

Illustration

public class ThreadPoolExecutorExample {

    public static void main (String[] args) {
        createAndRunPoolForQueue(new ArrayBlockingQueue<Runnable>(3), "Bounded");
        createAndRunPoolForQueue(new LinkedBlockingDeque<>(), "Unbounded");
        createAndRunPoolForQueue(new SynchronousQueue<Runnable>(), "Direct hand-off");
    }

    private static void createAndRunPoolForQueue (BlockingQueue<Runnable> queue,
                                                                      String msg) {
        System.out.println("---- " + msg + " queue instance = " +
                                                  queue.getClass()+ " -------------");

        ThreadPoolExecutor e = new ThreadPoolExecutor(2, 5, Long.MAX_VALUE,
                                 TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS, queue);

        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            try {
                e.execute(new Task());
            } catch (RejectedExecutionException ex) {
                System.out.println("Task rejected = " + (i + 1));
            }
            printStatus(i + 1, e);
        }

        e.shutdownNow();

        System.out.println("--------------------\n");
    }

    private static void printStatus (int taskSubmitted, ThreadPoolExecutor e) {
        StringBuilder s = new StringBuilder();
        s.append("poolSize = ")
         .append(e.getPoolSize())
         .append(", corePoolSize = ")
         .append(e.getCorePoolSize())
         .append(", queueSize = ")
         .append(e.getQueue()
                  .size())
         .append(", queueRemainingCapacity = ")
         .append(e.getQueue()
                  .remainingCapacity())
         .append(", maximumPoolSize = ")
         .append(e.getMaximumPoolSize())
         .append(", totalTasksSubmitted = ")
         .append(taskSubmitted);

        System.out.println(s.toString());
    }

    private static class Task implements Runnable {

        @Override
        public void run () {
            while (true) {
                try {
                    Thread.sleep(1000000);
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Output :

---- Bounded queue instance = class java.util.concurrent.ArrayBlockingQueue -------------
poolSize = 1, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 3, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 1
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 3, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 2
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 1, queueRemainingCapacity = 2, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 3
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 2, queueCapacity = 1, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 4
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 3, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 5
poolSize = 3, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 3, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 6
poolSize = 4, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 3, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 7
poolSize = 5, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 3, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 8
Task rejected = 9
poolSize = 5, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 3, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 9
Task rejected = 10
poolSize = 5, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 3, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 10
--------------------

---- Unbounded queue instance = class java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingDeque -------------
poolSize = 1, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483647, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 1
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483647, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 2
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 1, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483646, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 3
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 2, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483645, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 4
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 3, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483644, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 5
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 4, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483643, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 6
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 5, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483642, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 7
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 6, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483641, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 8
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 7, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483640, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 9
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 8, queueRemainingCapacity = 2147483639, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 10
--------------------

---- Direct hand-off queue instance = class java.util.concurrent.SynchronousQueue -------------
poolSize = 1, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 1
poolSize = 2, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 2
poolSize = 3, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 3
poolSize = 4, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 4
poolSize = 5, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 5
Task rejected = 6
poolSize = 5, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 6
Task rejected = 7
poolSize = 5, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 7
Task rejected = 8
poolSize = 5, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 8
Task rejected = 9
poolSize = 5, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 9
Task rejected = 10
poolSize = 5, corePoolSize = 2, queueSize = 0, queueRemainingCapacity = 0, maximumPoolSize = 5, totalTasksSubmitted = 10
--------------------


Process finished with exit code 0

Answer 3

If you decide to create a ThreadPoolExecutor manually instead of using the Executors factory class, you will need to create and configure one using one of its constructors. The most extensive constructor of this class is:

public ThreadPoolExecutor(
    int corePoolSize,
    int maxPoolSize,
    long keepAlive,
    TimeUnit unit,
    BlockingQueue<Runnable> workQueue,
    RejectedExecutionHandler handler
);

As you can see, you can configure:

• The core pool size (the size the thread pool will try to stick with).
• The maximum pool size.
• The keep alive time, which is a time after which an idle thread is eligible for being torn down.
• The work queue to hold tasks awaiting execution.
• The policy to apply when a task submission is rejected.

Limiting the Number of Queued Tasks

Limiting the number of concurrent tasks being executing, sizing your thread pool, represents a huge benefit for your application and its execution environment in terms of predictability and stability: an unbounded thread creation will eventually exhaust the runtime resources and your application might experience as a consequence, serious performance problems that may lead even to application instability.

That's a solution to just one part of the problem: you're capping the number of tasks being executed but aren't capping the number of jobs that can be submitted and enqueued for later execution. The application will experience resource shortage later, but it will eventually experience it if the submission rate consistently outgrows the execution rate.

The solution to this problem is: Providing a blocking queue to the executor to hold the awaiting tasks. In the case the queue fills up, the submitted task will be "rejected". The RejectedExecutionHandler is invoked when a task submission is rejected, and that's why the verb rejected was quoted in the previous item. You can implement your own rejection policy or use one of the built-in policies provided by the framework.

The default rejection policies has the executor throw a RejectedExecutionException. However, other built-in policies let you:

• Discard a job silently.
• Discard the oldest job and try to resubmit the last one.
• Execute the rejected task on the caller's thread.

Answer 4

From this blog post:

Take this example. Starting thread pool size is 1, core pool size is 5, max pool size is 10 and the queue is 100.

As requests come in, threads will be created up to 5 and then tasks will be added to the queue until it reaches 100. When the queue is full new threads will be created up to maxPoolSize. Once all the threads are in use and the queue is full tasks will be rejected. As the queue reduces, so does the number of active threads.

Answer 5

From the doc:

When a new task is submitted in method execute(java.lang.Runnable), and fewer than corePoolSize threads are running, a new thread is created to handle the request, even if other worker threads are idle. If there are more than corePoolSize but less than maximumPoolSize threads running, a new thread will be created only if the queue is full.

Furthermore:

By setting corePoolSize and maximumPoolSize the same, you create a fixed-size thread pool. By setting maximumPoolSize to an essentially unbounded value such as Integer.MAX_VALUE, you allow the pool to accommodate an arbitrary number of concurrent tasks. Most typically, core and maximum pool sizes are set only upon construction, but they may also be changed dynamically using setCorePoolSize(int) and setMaximumPoolSize(int).

Answer 6

Understanding the internal behavior of the ThreadPoolExecutor when a new task is submitted helped me understand how corePoolSize and maximumPoolSize differ.

Let:

• N be the number of threads in the pool, getPoolSize(). Active threads + idle threads.
• T be the amount of tasks submitted to the executor/pool.
• C be the core pool size, getCorePoolSize(). How many threads can at most be created per pool for the incoming tasks before new tasks go to the queue.
• M be the maximum pool size, getMaximumPoolSize(). Maximum amount of threads the pool can allocate.

Behaviors of the ThreadPoolExecutor in Java when a new task is submitted:

• For N <= C, the idle threads are not assigned the new incoming task, instead a new thread is created.
• For N > C and if there are idle threads then new task is assigned there.
• For N > C and if there are NO idle threads, new tasks are put into the queue. NO NEW THREAD CREATED HERE.
• When queue is full, we create new threads up to M. If M is reached, we reject the tasks. What's important to not here is that we do not create new threads until the queue is full!

Sources:

• docs.oracle.com
• excellent article on the subject.

Examples

Example with corePoolSize = 0 and maximumPoolSize = 10 with a queue capacity of 50.

This will result in one single active thread in the pool until the queue has 50 items in it.

executor.execute(task #1):

before task #1 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@c52dafe[Running, pool size = 0, active threads = 0, queued tasks = 0, completed tasks = 0]

after task #1 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@c52dafe[Running, pool size = 1, active threads = 1, queued tasks = 1, completed tasks = 0]

[task #1 immediately queued and kicked in b/c the very first thread is created when `workerCountOf(recheck) == 0`]

execute(task #2):

before task #2 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@c52dafe[Running, pool size = 1, active threads = 1, queued tasks = 0, completed tasks = 0]

after task #2 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@c52dafe[Running, pool size = 1, active threads = 1, queued tasks = 1, completed tasks = 0]

[task #2 not starting before #1 is done]

... executed a few tasks...

execute(task #19)

before task #19 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@735afe38[Running, pool size = 1, active threads = 1, queued tasks = 17, completed tasks = 0]

after task #19 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@735afe38[Running, pool size = 1, active threads = 1, queued tasks = 18, completed tasks = 0]

...

execute(task #51)

before task submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@735afe38[Running, pool size = 1, active threads = 1, queued tasks = 50, completed tasks = 0]

after task submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@735afe38[Running, pool size = 2, active threads = 2, queued tasks = 50, completed tasks = 0]

Queue is full.
A new thread was created as the queue was full.

Example with corePoolSize = 10 and maximumPoolSize = 10 with a queue capacity of 50.

This will result in 10 active threads in the pool. When the queue has 50 items in it, tasks will be rejected.

execute(task #1)

before task #1 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@32d9e072[Running, pool size = 0, active threads = 0, queued tasks = 0, completed tasks = 0]

after task #1 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@32d9e072[Running, pool size = 1, active threads = 1, queued tasks = 0, completed tasks = 0]

execute(task #2)

before task #2 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@32d9e072[Running, pool size = 1, active threads = 1, queued tasks = 0, completed tasks = 0]

after task #2 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@32d9e072[Running, pool size = 2, active threads = 2, queued tasks = 0, completed tasks = 0]

execute(task #3)

before task #3 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@32d9e072[Running, pool size = 2, active threads = 2, queued tasks = 0, completed tasks = 0]

after task #3 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@32d9e072[Running, pool size = 3, active threads = 3, queued tasks = 0, completed tasks = 0]

... executed a few tasks...

execute(task #11)

before task #11 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@32d9e072[Running, pool size = 10, active threads = 10, queued tasks = 0, completed tasks = 0]

after task #11 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@32d9e072[Running, pool size = 10, active threads = 10, queued tasks = 1, completed tasks = 0]

... executed a few tasks...

execute(task #51)
before task #51 submitted to executor: java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor@32d9e072[Running, pool size = 10, active threads = 10, queued tasks = 50, completed tasks = 0]

Task was rejected as we have reached `maximumPoolSize`.