java thread understanding and implementation in openjdk

After reading "In-depth understanding of the java virtual machine", the java and thread chapter mentioned that the threading model provided by linux is one-to-one. I also wrote a section of linux c, when opening up multithreading was to call the library function of pthread_create.

linux c thread function

int pthread_create(pthread_t *tid,const pthread_attr_t *attr,
(void*)(*start_rtn)(void*),void *arg);

tid is the thread ID

attr is the thread attribute

start_rtn is the function pointer, which is the function that the thread runs

arg is the parameter of the function

The use of this function is relatively simple, that is, pass the pointer of the function to be executed by your thread to the third parameter, and pass the parameter of the function as the fourth parameter.

My question also comes, the content executed by the java thread is written in the run method, so how does the c thread call the java method. At first I thought it was made by jni, so I looked at the source code of openjdk to verify.

Implementation of openjdk

The java thread is started and executed through the start method, and the main content is in the native method start0.

The writing jni of openjdk is generally one-to-one correspondence, and Thread.java corresponds to Thread.c.

static JNINativeMethod methods[] = {
    {"start0",           "()V",        (void *)&JVM_StartThread},
    {"stop0",            "(" OBJ ")V", (void *)&JVM_StopThread},
    {"isAlive",          "()Z",        (void *)&JVM_IsThreadAlive},
    {"suspend0",         "()V",        (void *)&JVM_SuspendThread},
    {"resume0",          "()V",        (void *)&JVM_ResumeThread},
    {"setPriority0",     "(I)V",       (void *)&JVM_SetThreadPriority},
    {"yield",            "()V",        (void *)&JVM_Yield},
    {"sleep",            "(J)V",       (void *)&JVM_Sleep},
    {"currentThread",    "()" THD,     (void *)&JVM_CurrentThread},
    {"countStackFrames", "()I",        (void *)&JVM_CountStackFrames},
    {"interrupt0",       "()V",        (void *)&JVM_Interrupt},
    {"isInterrupted",    "(Z)Z",       (void *)&JVM_IsInterrupted},
    {"holdsLock",        "(" OBJ ")Z", (void *)&JVM_HoldsLock},
    {"getThreads",        "()[" THD,   (void *)&JVM_GetAllThreads},
    {"dumpThreads",      "([" THD ")[[" STE, (void *)&JVM_DumpThreads},
    {"setNativeName",    "(" STR ")V", (void *)&JVM_SetNativeThreadName},
};

start0 is actually JVM_StartThread. At this point, the JVM_StartThread keyword is found through the search and replace tool, and the declaration is found in jvm.h, which is implemented in jvm.cpp.

JVM_ENTRY(void, JVM_StartThread(JNIEnv* env, jobject jthread))
  JVMWrapper("JVM_StartThread");
  JavaThread *native_thread = NULL;
  bool throw_illegal_thread_state = false;

  // We must release the Threads_lock before we can post a jvmti event
  // in Thread::start.
  {
    // Ensure that the C++ Thread and OSThread structures aren't freed before
    // we operate.
    MutexLocker mu(Threads_lock);


    if (java_lang_Thread::thread(JNIHandles::resolve_non_null(jthread)) != NULL) {
      throw_illegal_thread_state = true;
    } else {
      jlong size =
             java_lang_Thread::stackSize(JNIHandles::resolve_non_null(jthread));
      // Allocate the C++ Thread structure and create the native thread.  The
      // stack size retrieved from java is signed, but the constructor takes
      // size_t (an unsigned type), so avoid passing negative values which would
      // result in really large stacks.
      size_t sz = size > 0 ? (size_t) size : 0;
      native_thread = new JavaThread(&thread_entry, sz);
  ……
  ……

About browsing the context, the construction of native_thread should be completed in the construction of JavaThread, and the code here is displayed at the construction of JavaThread.

JavaThread::JavaThread(ThreadFunction entry_point, size_t stack_sz) :
  Thread()
#if INCLUDE_ALL_GCS
  , _satb_mark_queue(&_satb_mark_queue_set),
  _dirty_card_queue(&_dirty_card_queue_set)
#endif // INCLUDE_ALL_GCS
{
  if (TraceThreadEvents) {
    tty->print_cr("creating thread %p", this);
  }
  initialize();
  _jni_attach_state = _not_attaching_via_jni;
  set_entry_point(entry_point);
  os::ThreadType thr_type = os::java_thread;
  thr_type = entry_point == &compiler_thread_entry ? os::compiler_thread :
                                                     os::java_thread;
  os::create_thread(this, thr_type, stack_sz);
  _safepoint_visible = false;

}

Do a few things in the constructor, set entry_point, set stack_size, create_thread. entry_point will be discussed later, here we need to know that there is such a point here. We continue to look at the implementation of threads. The implementation of threads is basically based on system library functions (the unified thread library only available in C++11). The specific implementation is in os_linux.cpp (here we only talk about linux, the implementation of other systems is not here).

bool os::create_thread(Thread* thread, ThreadType thr_type, size_t stack_size) {
    ……
    pthread_t tid;
    int ret = pthread_create(&tid, &attr, (void* (*)(void*)) java_start, thread);
     ……
｝

Here finally see the call of the system library function. The method of thread execution is java_start, and the parameter is thread.

// Thread start routine for all newly created threads
static void *java_start(Thread *thread) {
  // Try to randomize the cache line index of hot stack frames.
  // This helps when threads of the same stack traces evict each other's
  // cache lines. The threads can be either from the same JVM instance, or
  // from different JVM instances. The benefit is especially true for
  // processors with hyperthreading technology.
  static int counter = 0;
  int pid = os::current_process_id();
  alloca(((pid ^ counter++) & 7) * 128);

  ThreadLocalStorage::set_thread(thread);

  OSThread* osthread = thread->osthread();
  Monitor* sync = osthread->startThread_lock();

  // non floating stack LinuxThreads needs extra check, see above
  if (!_thread_safety_check(thread)) {
    // notify parent thread
    MutexLockerEx ml(sync, Mutex::_no_safepoint_check_flag);
    osthread->set_state(ZOMBIE);
    sync->notify_all();
    return NULL;
  }

  // thread_id is kernel thread id (similar to Solaris LWP id)
  osthread->set_thread_id(os::Linux::gettid());

  if (UseNUMA) {
    int lgrp_id = os::numa_get_group_id();
    if (lgrp_id != -1) {
      thread->set_lgrp_id(lgrp_id);
    }
  }
  // initialize signal mask for this thread
  os::Linux::hotspot_sigmask(thread);

  // initialize floating point control register
  os::Linux::init_thread_fpu_state();

  // handshaking with parent thread
  {
    MutexLockerEx ml(sync, Mutex::_no_safepoint_check_flag);

    // notify parent thread
    osthread->set_state(INITIALIZED);
    sync->notify_all();

    // wait until os::start_thread()
    while (osthread->get_state() == INITIALIZED) {
      sync->wait(Mutex::_no_safepoint_check_flag);
    }
  }

  // call one more level start routine
  thread->run();

  return 0;
}

This method can jump directly to the last line. It executes the run method of the passed object. Remember the JavaThread object constructed earlier.

// The first routine called by a new Java thread
void JavaThread::run() {
  // initialize thread-local alloc buffer related fields
  this->initialize_tlab();

  // used to test validitity of stack trace backs
  this->record_base_of_stack_pointer();

  // Record real stack base and size.
  this->record_stack_base_and_size();

  // Initialize thread local storage; set before calling MutexLocker
  this->initialize_thread_local_storage();

  this->create_stack_guard_pages();

  this->cache_global_variables();

  ThreadStateTransition::transition_and_fence(this, _thread_new, _thread_in_vm);

  assert(JavaThread::current() == this, "sanity check");
  assert(!Thread::current()->owns_locks(), "sanity check");

  DTRACE_THREAD_PROBE(start, this);

  // This operation might block. We call that after all safepoint checks for a new thread has
  // been completed.
  this->set_active_handles(JNIHandleBlock::allocate_block());

  if (JvmtiExport::should_post_thread_life()) {
    JvmtiExport::post_thread_start(this);
  }

  EventThreadStart event;
  if (event.should_commit()) {
     event.set_javalangthread(java_lang_Thread::thread_id(this->threadObj()));
     event.commit();
  }


  thread_main_inner();

}

The code here needs to be briefly reviewed, we see that the beginning of the method initializes a lot of information, such as TLAB, TLS, etc. The actual code to execute is in thread_main_inner.

void JavaThread::thread_main_inner() {
  assert(JavaThread::current() == this, "sanity check");
  assert(this->threadObj() != NULL, "just checking");

  // Execute thread entry point unless this thread has a pending exception
  // or has been stopped before starting.
  // Note: Due to JVM_StopThread we can have pending exceptions already!
  if (!this->has_pending_exception() &&
      !java_lang_Thread::is_stillborn(this->threadObj())) {
    {
      ResourceMark rm(this);
      this->set_native_thread_name(this->get_thread_name());
    }
    HandleMark hm(this);
    this->entry_point()(this, this);
  }
  DTRACE_THREAD_PROBE(stop, this);
  this->exit(false);
  delete this;
}

After seeing this method, I found that the run method was not executed. This is also the first time I tracked the code to go through a very strange place, and I didn't say anything about the run method. this->entry_point()(this, this); actually calls the run method. Above I specifically said remember entry_point. This is passed in when constructing JavaThread, is a function named thread_entry.

static void thread_entry(JavaThread* thread, TRAPS) {
  HandleMark hm(THREAD);
  Handle obj(THREAD, thread->threadObj());
  JavaValue result(T_VOID);
  JavaCalls::call_virtual(&result,
                          obj,
                          KlassHandle(THREAD, SystemDictionary::Thread_klass()),
                          vmSymbols::run_method_name(),
                          vmSymbols::void_method_signature(),
                          THREAD);
}

There is a process of JavaCalls in it, and the incoming is vmSymbols::run_method_name(), which is the run method. How to call specific call_virtual. Please refer to https://www.zhihu.com/question/64677339/answer/223307974 (I also refer to the answer here to understand.)

Summarize

The implementation of the thread in JVM in linux is the pthread library called, but the content of the thread execution is interpreted and executed (that is, the process of call_virtual mentioned above), not the opposite of jni. My understanding is that each thread of c is interpreting and executing the run method of java, thus achieving the multi-threading effect of java.