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 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
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 *
 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
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 *
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/*
 * This file is available under and governed by the GNU General Public
 * License version 2 only, as published by the Free Software Foundation.
 * However, the following notice accompanied the original version of this
 * file:
 *
 * Written by Doug Lea with assistance from members of JCP JSR-166
 * Expert Group and released to the public domain, as explained at
 * http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
 */

package java.util.concurrent;


A Future represents the result of an asynchronous computation. Methods are provided to check if the computation is complete, to wait for its completion, and to retrieve the result of the computation. The result can only be retrieved using method get when the computation has completed, blocking if necessary until it is ready. Cancellation is performed by the cancel method. Additional methods are provided to determine if the task completed normally or was cancelled. Once a computation has completed, the computation cannot be cancelled. If you would like to use a Future for the sake of cancellability but not provide a usable result, you can declare types of the form Future<?> and return null as a result of the underlying task. 
Sample Usage (Note that the following classes are all
made-up.)

 
interface ArchiveSearcher { String search(String target); }
class App {
  ExecutorService executor = ...;
  ArchiveSearcher searcher = ...;
  void showSearch(String target) throws InterruptedException {
    Callable<String> task = () -> searcher.search(target);
    Future<String> future = executor.submit(task);
    displayOtherThings(); // do other things while searching
    try {
      displayText(future.get()); // use future
    } catch (ExecutionException ex) { cleanup(); return; }
  }
 }
 The FutureTask class is an implementation of Future that implements Runnable, and so may be executed by an Executor. For example, the above construction with submit could be replaced by: 
 
FutureTask<String> future = new FutureTask<>(task);
executor.execute(future);


Memory consistency effects: Actions taken by the asynchronous computation
 happen-before actions following the corresponding Future.get() in another thread. 
Author:Doug Lea
Type parameters:
  • <V> – The result type returned by this Future's get method
See Also:
Since:1.5
/**
 * A {@code Future} represents the result of an asynchronous
 * computation.  Methods are provided to check if the computation is
 * complete, to wait for its completion, and to retrieve the result of
 * the computation.  The result can only be retrieved using method
 * {@code get} when the computation has completed, blocking if
 * necessary until it is ready.  Cancellation is performed by the
 * {@code cancel} method.  Additional methods are provided to
 * determine if the task completed normally or was cancelled. Once a
 * computation has completed, the computation cannot be cancelled.
 * If you would like to use a {@code Future} for the sake
 * of cancellability but not provide a usable result, you can
 * declare types of the form {@code Future<?>} and
 * return {@code null} as a result of the underlying task.
 *
 * <p><b>Sample Usage</b> (Note that the following classes are all
 * made-up.)
 *
 * <pre> {@code
 * interface ArchiveSearcher { String search(String target); }
 * class App {
 *   ExecutorService executor = ...;
 *   ArchiveSearcher searcher = ...;
 *   void showSearch(String target) throws InterruptedException {
 *     Callable<String> task = () -> searcher.search(target);
 *     Future<String> future = executor.submit(task);
 *     displayOtherThings(); // do other things while searching
 *     try {
 *       displayText(future.get()); // use future
 *     } catch (ExecutionException ex) { cleanup(); return; }
 *   }
 * }}</pre>
 *
 * The {@link FutureTask} class is an implementation of {@code Future} that
 * implements {@code Runnable}, and so may be executed by an {@code Executor}.
 * For example, the above construction with {@code submit} could be replaced by:
 * <pre> {@code
 * FutureTask<String> future = new FutureTask<>(task);
 * executor.execute(future);}</pre>
 *
 * <p>Memory consistency effects: Actions taken by the asynchronous computation
 * <a href="package-summary.html#MemoryVisibility"> <i>happen-before</i></a>
 * actions following the corresponding {@code Future.get()} in another thread.
 *
 * @see FutureTask
 * @see Executor
 * @since 1.5
 * @author Doug Lea
 * @param <V> The result type returned by this Future's {@code get} method
 */
public interface Future<V> {

    
Attempts to cancel execution of this task. This method has no effect if the task is already completed or cancelled, or could not be cancelled for some other reason. Otherwise, if this task has not started when cancel is called, this task should never run. If the task has already started, then the mayInterruptIfRunning parameter determines whether the thread executing this task (when known by the implementation) is interrupted in an attempt to stop the task. 
The return value from this method does not necessarily indicate whether the task is now cancelled; use isCancelled. 
Params:
  • mayInterruptIfRunning – true if the thread executing this task should be interrupted (if the thread is known to the implementation); otherwise, in-progress tasks are allowed to complete
Returns:false if the task could not be cancelled, typically because it has already completed; true otherwise. If two or more threads cause a task to be cancelled, then at least one of them returns true. Implementations may provide stronger guarantees.
/**
     * Attempts to cancel execution of this task.  This method has no
     * effect if the task is already completed or cancelled, or could
     * not be cancelled for some other reason.  Otherwise, if this
     * task has not started when {@code cancel} is called, this task
     * should never run.  If the task has already started, then the
     * {@code mayInterruptIfRunning} parameter determines whether the
     * thread executing this task (when known by the implementation)
     * is interrupted in an attempt to stop the task.
     *
     * <p>The return value from this method does not necessarily
     * indicate whether the task is now cancelled; use {@link
     * #isCancelled}.
     *
     * @param mayInterruptIfRunning {@code true} if the thread
     * executing this task should be interrupted (if the thread is
     * known to the implementation); otherwise, in-progress tasks are
     * allowed to complete
     * @return {@code false} if the task could not be cancelled,
     * typically because it has already completed; {@code true}
     * otherwise. If two or more threads cause a task to be cancelled,
     * then at least one of them returns {@code true}. Implementations
     * may provide stronger guarantees.
     */
    boolean cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfRunning);

    
Returns true if this task was cancelled before it completed normally. 
Returns:true if this task was cancelled before it completed
/**
     * Returns {@code true} if this task was cancelled before it completed
     * normally.
     *
     * @return {@code true} if this task was cancelled before it completed
     */
    boolean isCancelled();

    
Returns true if this task completed. Completion may be due to normal termination, an exception, or cancellation -- in all of these cases, this method will return true. 
Returns:true if this task completed
/**
     * Returns {@code true} if this task completed.
     *
     * Completion may be due to normal termination, an exception, or
     * cancellation -- in all of these cases, this method will return
     * {@code true}.
     *
     * @return {@code true} if this task completed
     */
    boolean isDone();

    
Waits if necessary for the computation to complete, and then
retrieves its result.

Throws:
Returns:the computed result
/**
     * Waits if necessary for the computation to complete, and then
     * retrieves its result.
     *
     * @return the computed result
     * @throws CancellationException if the computation was cancelled
     * @throws ExecutionException if the computation threw an
     * exception
     * @throws InterruptedException if the current thread was interrupted
     * while waiting
     */
    V get() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException;

    
Waits if necessary for at most the given time for the computation
to complete, and then retrieves its result, if available.

Params:
  • timeout – the maximum time to wait
  • unit – the time unit of the timeout argument
Throws:
Returns:the computed result
/**
     * Waits if necessary for at most the given time for the computation
     * to complete, and then retrieves its result, if available.
     *
     * @param timeout the maximum time to wait
     * @param unit the time unit of the timeout argument
     * @return the computed result
     * @throws CancellationException if the computation was cancelled
     * @throws ExecutionException if the computation threw an
     * exception
     * @throws InterruptedException if the current thread was interrupted
     * while waiting
     * @throws TimeoutException if the wait timed out
     */
    V get(long timeout, TimeUnit unit)
        throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException;
}