Difference between wait() and sleep()

Question

What is the difference between a wait() and sleep() in Threads?

Is my understanding that a wait()-ing Thread is still in running mode and uses CPU cycles but a sleep()-ing does not consume any CPU cycles correct?

Why do we have both wait() and sleep(): how does their implementation vary at a lower level?

Answer 1

Here wait() will be in the waiting state till it notify by another Thread but where as sleep() will be having some time..after that it will automatically transfer to the Ready state...

Answer 2

source : http://www.jguru.com/faq/view.jsp?EID=47127

Thread.sleep() sends the current thread into the "Not Runnable" state for some amount of time. The thread keeps the monitors it has aquired -- i.e. if the thread is currently in a synchronized block or method no other thread can enter this block or method. If another thread calls t.interrupt() it will wake up the sleeping thread.

Note that sleep is a static method, which means that it always affects the current thread (the one that is executing the sleep method). A common mistake is to call t.sleep() where t is a different thread; even then, it is the current thread that will sleep, not the t thread.

t.suspend() is deprecated. Using it is possible to halt a thread other than the current thread. A suspended thread keeps all its monitors and since this state is not interruptable it is deadlock prone.

object.wait() sends the current thread into the "Not Runnable" state, like sleep(), but with a twist. Wait is called on an object, not a thread; we call this object the "lock object." Before lock.wait() is called, the current thread must synchronize on the lock object; wait() then releases this lock, and adds the thread to the "wait list" associated with the lock. Later, another thread can synchronize on the same lock object and call lock.notify(). This wakes up the original, waiting thread. Basically, wait()/notify() is like sleep()/interrupt(), only the active thread does not need a direct pointer to the sleeping thread, but only to the shared lock object.

Answer 3

sleep is a method of Thread, wait is a method of Object, so wait/notify is a technique of synchronizing shared data in Java (using monitor), but sleep is a simple method of thread to pause itself.

Answer 4

Example about sleep doesn’t release lock and wait does

Here there are two classes :

1. Main : Contains main method and two threads.

2. Singleton : This is singleton class with two static methods getInstance() and getInstance(boolean isWait).

   public class Main {
   
   private static Singleton singletonA = null;
   private static Singleton singletonB = null;
   
   public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
   
   Thread threadA = new Thread() {
       @Override
       public void run() {
   
           singletonA = Singleton.getInstance(true);
   
       }
   };
   
   Thread threadB = new Thread() {
       @Override
       public void run() {
           singletonB = Singleton.getInstance();
   
           while (singletonA == null) {
               System.out.println("SingletonA still null");
           }
   
           if (singletonA == singletonB) {
               System.out.println("Both singleton are same");
           } else {
               System.out.println("Both singleton are not same");
           }
   
       }
   };
   
   threadA.start();
   threadB.start();
   
    }
   }
   

and

public class Singleton {

    private static Singleton _instance;

    public static Singleton getInstance() {

    if (_instance == null) {
        synchronized (Singleton.class) {
            if (_instance == null)
                _instance = new Singleton();
        }
    }
    return _instance;

}

public static Singleton getInstance(boolean isWait) {

    if (_instance == null) {
        synchronized (Singleton.class) {
            if (_instance == null) {
                if (isWait) {
                    try {
                        // Singleton.class.wait(500);//Using wait
                        Thread.sleep(500);// Using Sleep
                        System.out.println("_instance :"
                                + String.valueOf(_instance));
                    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                        e.printStackTrace();
                    }
                }

                _instance = new Singleton();
            }
        }
    }
    return _instance;

 }
}

Now run this example you will get below output :

_instance :null
Both singleton are same

Here Singleton instances created by threadA and threadB are same. It means threadB is waiting outside until threadA release it’s lock.

Now change the Singleton.java by commenting Thread.sleep(500); method and uncommenting Singleton.class.wait(500); . Here because of Singleton.class.wait(500); method threadA will release all acquire locks and moves into the “Non Runnable” state, threadB will get change to enter in synchronized block.

Now run again :

SingletonA still null
SingletonA still null
SingletonA still null
_instance :com.omt.sleepwait.Singleton@10c042ab
SingletonA still null
SingletonA still null
SingletonA still null
Both singleton are not same

Here Singleton instances created by threadA and threadB are NOT same because of threadB got change to enter in synchronised block and after 500 milliseconds threadA started from it’s last position and created one more Singleton object.

Answer 5

There are a lot of answers here but I couldn't find the semantic distinction mentioned on any.

It's not about the thread itself; both methods are required as they support very different use-cases.

sleep() sends the Thread to sleep as it was before, it just packs the context and stops executing for a predefined time. So in order to wake it up before the due time, you need to know the Thread reference. This is not a common situation in a multi-threaded environment. It's mostly used for time-synchronization (e.g. wake in exactly 3.5 seconds) and/or hard-coded fairness (just sleep for a while and let others threads work).

wait(), on the contrary, is a thread (or message) synchronization mechanism that allows you to notify a Thread of which you have no stored reference (nor care). You can think of it as a publish-subscribe pattern (wait == subscribe and notify() == publish). Basically using notify() you are sending a message (that might even not be received at all and normally you don't care).

To sum up, you normally use sleep() for time-syncronization and wait() for multi-thread-synchronization.

They could be implemented in the same manner in the underlying OS, or not at all (as previous versions of Java had no real multithreading; probably some small VMs doesn't do that either). Don't forget Java runs on a VM, so your code will be transformed in something different according to the VM/OS/HW it runs on.

Answer 6

wait releases the lock and sleep doesn't. A thread in waiting state is eligible for waking up as soon as notify or notifyAll is called. But in case of sleep the thread keeps the lock and it'll only be eligible once the sleep time is over.