When is Java thread stack virtual memory freed in Windows?

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This article studies the hotspot virtual machine when running a Win32 program:

The memory allocation process from the creation of Java threads to the creation of operating system threads

Win32 thread stack virtual memory release process

If you don't know the memory management related knowledge of win32, you can read the summary of Windows memory management knowledge first.

The relationship between Java threads & JVM & operating system

Conclusion first

Java's thread object is actually an empty shell, and the real logic is in the native layer

The Java layer calls jvm.cpp through JNI, which creates a C++ Thread object

A C++ Thread object will hold an OSThread object

OSThread will hold the HANDLE of the thread created by the specific operating system

To finally release the virtual memory of the process occupied by the thread stack, you need to release the HANDLE

The following will analyze the core code in the order of a Java thread from creation to destruction, and memory allocation to release.

Java thread memory allocation

Java new Thead -> thread.start()

 /**
     * Causes this thread to begin execution; the Java Virtual Machine
     * calls the <code>run</code> method of this thread.
     * <p>
     * The result is that two threads are running concurrently: the
     * current thread (which returns from the call to the
     * <code>start</code> method) and the other thread (which executes its
     * <code>run</code> method).
     * <p>
     * It is never legal to start a thread more than once.
     * In particular, a thread may not be restarted once it has completed
     * execution.
     *
     * @exception  IllegalThreadStateException  if the thread was already
     *               started.
     * @see        #run()
     * @see        #stop()
     */
public synchronized void start() {
  /**
         * This method is not invoked for the main method thread or "system"
         * group threads created/set up by the VM. Any new functionality added
         * to this method in the future may have to also be added to the VM.
         *
         * A zero status value corresponds to state "NEW".
         */
  if (threadStatus != 0)
    throw new IllegalThreadStateException();

  /* Notify the group that this thread is about to be started
         * so that it can be added to the group's list of threads
         * and the group's unstarted count can be decremented. */
  group.add(this);

  boolean started = false;
  try {
    start0();
    started = true;
  } finally {
    try {
      if (!started) {
        group.threadStartFailed(this);
      }
    } catch (Throwable ignore) {
      /* do nothing. If start0 threw a Throwable then
                  it will be passed up the call stack */
    }
  }
}

private native void start0();
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When the Java layer calls start(), it actually calls the native method start0 through JNI

Thread JNI method registry

// jdk/src/share/native/java/lang/Thread.c:43
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},
};

// jdk/src/share/javavm/export/jvm.h:254
JNIEXPORT void JNICALL
JVM_Interrupt(JNIEnv *env, jobject thread);
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The above code indicates the mapping relationship between Java methods and C++ functions

JVM_StartThread

start0() is actually called into the JVM_StartThread function

JVM_ENTRY(void, JVM_StartThread(JNIEnv* env, jobject jthread))

  JavaThread *native_thread = NULL;
  {
    // Ensure that the C++ Thread and OSThread structures aren't freed before
    // we operate.
    MutexLocker mu(Threads_lock);

    // Since JDK 5 the java.lang.Thread threadStatus is used to prevent
    // re-starting an already started thread, so we should usually find
    // that the JavaThread is null. However for a JNI attached thread
    // there is a small window between the Thread object being created
    // (with its JavaThread set) and the update to its threadStatus, so we
    // have to check for this
    if (java_lang_Thread::thread(JNIHandles::resolve_non_null(jthread)) != NULL) {
      throw_illegal_thread_state = true;
    } else {
      // We could also check the stillborn flag to see if this thread was already stopped, but
      // for historical reasons we let the thread detect that itself when it starts running

      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);

      // At this point it may be possible that no osthread was created for the
      // JavaThread due to lack of memory. Check for this situation and throw
      // an exception if necessary. Eventually we may want to change this so
      // that we only grab the lock if the thread was created successfully -
      // then we can also do this check and throw the exception in the
      // JavaThread constructor.
      if (native_thread->osthread() != NULL) {
        // Note: the current thread is not being used within "prepare".
        native_thread->prepare(jthread);
      }
    }
  }

  if (native_thread->osthread() == NULL) {
    // No one should hold a reference to the 'native_thread'.
    delete native_thread;
    if (JvmtiExport::should_post_resource_exhausted()) {
      JvmtiExport::post_resource_exhausted(
        JVMTI_RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED_OOM_ERROR | JVMTI_RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED_THREADS,
        "unable to create new native thread");
    }
    THROW_MSG(vmSymbols::java_lang_OutOfMemoryError(),
              "unable to create new native thread");
  }

  Thread::start(native_thread);

JVM_END
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JavaThread is the C++ Thread in the original diagram
- On the one hand, it encapsulates the operating system thread, you can see that it holds osthread
- On the other hand, the thread object jthread bound to the Java layer calls the run() of the Java layer Thread class through thread_entry
The object memory of C++ Thread will be allocated to Heap

new 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);
  // Create the native thread itself.
  // %note runtime_23
  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;
  // The _osthread may be NULL here because we ran out of memory (too many threads active).
  // We need to throw and OutOfMemoryError - however we cannot do this here because the caller
  // may hold a lock and all locks must be unlocked before throwing the exception (throwing
  // the exception consists of creating the exception object & initializing it, initialization
  // will leave the VM via a JavaCall and then all locks must be unlocked).
  //
  // The thread is still suspended when we reach here. Thread must be explicit started
  // by creator! Furthermore, the thread must also explicitly be added to the Threads list
  // by calling Threads:add. The reason why this is not done here, is because the thread
  // object must be fully initialized (take a look at JVM_Start)
}
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Save entry_point in C++ Thread
Execute os::create_thread, the real thread is created by the operating system function

os::create_thread

// Allocate and initialize a new OSThread
bool os::create_thread(Thread* thread, ThreadType thr_type, size_t stack_size) {
  unsigned thread_id;

  // Allocate the OSThread object
  OSThread* osthread = new OSThread(NULL, NULL);
  if (osthread == NULL) {
    return false;
  }

  // Initialize support for Java interrupts
  HANDLE interrupt_event = CreateEvent(NULL, true, false, NULL);
  if (interrupt_event == NULL) {
    delete osthread;
    return NULL;
  }
  osthread->set_interrupt_event(interrupt_event);
  osthread->set_interrupted(false);

  thread->set_osthread(osthread);

  if (stack_size == 0) {
    switch (thr_type) {
    case os::java_thread:
      // Java threads use ThreadStackSize which default value can be changed with the flag -Xss
      if (JavaThread::stack_size_at_create() > 0)
        stack_size = JavaThread::stack_size_at_create();
      break;
    case os::compiler_thread:
      if (CompilerThreadStackSize > 0) {
        stack_size = (size_t)(CompilerThreadStackSize * K);
        break;
      } // else fall through:
        // use VMThreadStackSize if CompilerThreadStackSize is not defined
    case os::vm_thread:
    case os::pgc_thread:
    case os::cgc_thread:
    case os::watcher_thread:
      if (VMThreadStackSize > 0) stack_size = (size_t)(VMThreadStackSize * K);
      break;
    }
  }

  // Create the Win32 thread
  //
  // Contrary to what MSDN document says, "stack_size" in _beginthreadex()
  // does not specify stack size. Instead, it specifies the size of
  // initially committed space. The stack size is determined by
  // PE header in the executable. If the committed "stack_size" is larger
  // than default value in the PE header, the stack is rounded up to the
  // nearest multiple of 1MB. For example if the launcher has default
  // stack size of 320k, specifying any size less than 320k does not
  // affect the actual stack size at all, it only affects the initial
  // commitment. On the other hand, specifying 'stack_size' larger than
  // default value may cause significant increase in memory usage, because
  // not only the stack space will be rounded up to MB, but also the
  // entire space is committed upfront.
  //
  // Finally Windows XP added a new flag 'STACK_SIZE_PARAM_IS_A_RESERVATION'
  // for CreateThread() that can treat 'stack_size' as stack size. However we
  // are not supposed to call CreateThread() directly according to MSDN
  // document because JVM uses C runtime library. The good news is that the
  // flag appears to work with _beginthredex() as well.

#ifndef STACK_SIZE_PARAM_IS_A_RESERVATION
#define STACK_SIZE_PARAM_IS_A_RESERVATION  (0x10000)
#endif

  HANDLE thread_handle =
    (HANDLE)_beginthreadex(NULL,
                           (unsigned)stack_size,
                           (unsigned (__stdcall *)(void*)) java_start,
                           thread,
                           CREATE_SUSPENDED | STACK_SIZE_PARAM_IS_A_RESERVATION,
                           &thread_id);
  if (thread_handle == NULL) {
    // perhaps STACK_SIZE_PARAM_IS_A_RESERVATION is not supported, try again
    // without the flag.
    thread_handle =
    (HANDLE)_beginthreadex(NULL,
                           (unsigned)stack_size,
                           (unsigned (__stdcall *)(void*)) java_start,
                           thread,
                           CREATE_SUSPENDED,
                           &thread_id);
  }
  if (thread_handle == NULL) {
    // Need to clean up stuff we've allocated so far
    CloseHandle(osthread->interrupt_event());
    thread->set_osthread(NULL);
    delete osthread;
    return NULL;
  }

  Atomic::inc_ptr((intptr_t*)&os::win32::_os_thread_count);

  // Store info on the Win32 thread into the OSThread
  osthread->set_thread_handle(thread_handle);
  osthread->set_thread_id(thread_id);

  // Initial thread state is INITIALIZED, not SUSPENDED
  osthread->set_state(INITIALIZED);

  // The thread is returned suspended (in state INITIALIZED), and is started higher up in the call chain
  return true;
}
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分配 OSThread 对象
CreateEvent(interrupt_event)，信号量机制，具体参考learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windo…
初始化 stack_size
通过 _beginthreadex 创建 Windows 线程，并将 HANDLE 设置到 OSThread 中

C++ Thread 开始执行

上一节 _beginthreadex 的第 3 个参数表示 Windows 线程跑起来后要执行的函数地址

// Thread start routine for all new Java threads
static unsigned __stdcall 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);

  OSThread* osthr = thread->osthread();
  assert(osthr->get_state() == RUNNABLE, "invalid os thread state");

  if (UseNUMA) {
    int lgrp_id = os::numa_get_group_id();
    if (lgrp_id != -1) {
      thread->set_lgrp_id(lgrp_id);
    }
  }


  // Install a win32 structured exception handler around every thread created
  // by VM, so VM can genrate error dump when an exception occurred in non-
  // Java thread (e.g. VM thread).
  __try {
     thread->run();
  } __except(topLevelExceptionFilter(
             (_EXCEPTION_POINTERS*)_exception_info())) {
      // Nothing to do.
  }

  // One less thread is executing
  // When the VMThread gets here, the main thread may have already exited
  // which frees the CodeHeap containing the Atomic::add code
  if (thread != VMThread::vm_thread() && VMThread::vm_thread() != NULL) {
    Atomic::dec_ptr((intptr_t*)&os::win32::_os_thread_count);
  }

  return 0;
}
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调用了 thread -> run()，请继续看下一节

JavaThread::run

// 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();

  // Thread is now sufficient initialized to be handled by the safepoint code as being
  // in the VM. Change thread state from _thread_new to _thread_in_vm
  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();
  }

  // We call another function to do the rest so we are sure that the stack addresses used
  // from there will be lower than the stack base just computed
  thread_main_inner();

  // Note, thread is no longer valid at this point!
}
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record_stack_base_and_size 中会查询具体栈内存地址，分别调用 current_stack_base 和 current_stack_size

current_stack_base & current_stack_size

// os::current_stack_base()
//
//   Returns the base of the stack, which is the stack's
//   starting address.  This function must be called
//   while running on the stack of the thread being queried.

address os::current_stack_base() {
  MEMORY_BASIC_INFORMATION minfo;
  address stack_bottom;
  size_t stack_size;

  VirtualQuery(&minfo, &minfo, sizeof(minfo));
  stack_bottom =  (address)minfo.AllocationBase;
  stack_size = minfo.RegionSize;

  // Add up the sizes of all the regions with the same
  // AllocationBase.
  while( 1 )
  {
    VirtualQuery(stack_bottom+stack_size, &minfo, sizeof(minfo));
    if ( stack_bottom == (address)minfo.AllocationBase )
      stack_size += minfo.RegionSize;
    else
      break;
  }
  #ifdef _M_IA64
  // IA64 has memory and register stacks
  //
  // This is the stack layout you get on NT/IA64 if you specify 1MB stack limit
  // at thread creation (1MB backing store growing upwards, 1MB memory stack
  // growing downwards, 2MB summed up)
  //
  // ...
  // ------- top of stack (high address) -----
  // |
  // |      1MB
  // |      Backing Store (Register Stack)
  // |
  // |         / \
  // |          |
  // |          |
  // |          |
  // ------------------------ stack base -----
  // |      1MB
  // |      Memory Stack
  // |
  // |          |
  // |          |
  // |          |
  // |         \ /
  // |
  // ----- bottom of stack (low address) -----
  // ...

  stack_size = stack_size / 2;
#endif
  return stack_bottom + stack_size
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size_t os::current_stack_size() {
  size_t sz;
  MEMORY_BASIC_INFORMATION minfo;
  VirtualQuery(&minfo, &minfo, sizeof(minfo));
  sz = (size_t)os::current_stack_base() - (size_t)minfo.AllocationBase;
  return sz;
}
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通过 Windows Api VirtualQuery 查询当前线程栈内存信息
JVM C++ Thread 记录 stack_size 的目的是为了处理 stack overflow 异常

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;
}
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重点是最后一行 delete this，会进一步调用 C++ Thread 的析构函数

thread_entry

// java.lang.Thread //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// In most of the JVM Thread support functions we need to be sure to lock the Threads_lock
// to prevent the target thread from exiting after we have a pointer to the C++ Thread or
// OSThread objects.  The exception to this rule is when the target object is the thread
// doing the operation, in which case we know that the thread won't exit until the
// operation is done (all exits being voluntary).  There are a few cases where it is
// rather silly to do operations on yourself, like resuming yourself or asking whether
// you are alive.  While these can still happen, they are not subject to deadlocks if
// the lock is held while the operation occurs (this is not the case for suspend, for
// instance), and are very unlikely.  Because IsAlive needs to be fast and its
// implementation is local to this file, we always lock Threads_lock for that one.

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);
}

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run_method_name() 实际就是 Java Thread 的 run()，template(run_method_name, "run")

Java 线程内存释放

void JavaThread::thread_main_inner() {

  delete this;
}
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上一节提到 thread_main_inner 会调用 delete this 随后触发 C++ Thread 的析构函数，下面看看析构函数具体做了什么

Thread:~Thread()

Thread::~Thread() {
  // Reclaim the objectmonitors from the omFreeList of the moribund thread.
  ObjectSynchronizer::omFlush (this) ;

  EVENT_THREAD_DESTRUCT(this);

  // stack_base can be NULL if the thread is never started or exited before
  // record_stack_base_and_size called. Although, we would like to ensure
  // that all started threads do call record_stack_base_and_size(), there is
  // not proper way to enforce that.
#if INCLUDE_NMT
  if (_stack_base != NULL) {
    address low_stack_addr = stack_base() - stack_size();
    MemTracker::release_thread_stack(low_stack_addr, stack_size(), this);
#ifdef ASSERT
    set_stack_base(NULL);
#endif
  }
#endif // INCLUDE_NMT

  // deallocate data structures
  delete resource_area();
  // since the handle marks are using the handle area, we have to deallocated the root
  // handle mark before deallocating the thread's handle area,
  assert(last_handle_mark() != NULL, "check we have an element");
  delete last_handle_mark();
  assert(last_handle_mark() == NULL, "check we have reached the end");

  // It's possible we can encounter a null _ParkEvent, etc., in stillborn threads.
  // We NULL out the fields for good hygiene.
  ParkEvent::Release (_ParkEvent)   ; _ParkEvent   = NULL ;
  ParkEvent::Release (_SleepEvent)  ; _SleepEvent  = NULL ;
  ParkEvent::Release (_MutexEvent)  ; _MutexEvent  = NULL ;
  ParkEvent::Release (_MuxEvent)    ; _MuxEvent    = NULL ;

  delete handle_area();
  delete metadata_handles();

  // osthread() can be NULL, if creation of thread failed.
  if (osthread() != NULL) os::free_thread(osthread());

  delete _SR_lock;

  // clear thread local storage if the Thread is deleting itself
  if (this == Thread::current()) {
    ThreadLocalStorage::set_thread(NULL);
  } else {
    // In the case where we're not the current thread, invalidate all the
    // caches in case some code tries to get the current thread or the
    // thread that was destroyed, and gets stale information.
    ThreadLocalStorage::invalidate_all();
  }
  CHECK_UNHANDLED_OOPS_ONLY(if (CheckUnhandledOops) delete unhandled_oops();)
}
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析构函数核心是调用了 os::free_thread

os::free_thread

// Free Win32 resources related to the OSThread
void os::free_thread(OSThread* osthread) {
  assert(osthread != NULL, "osthread not set");
  CloseHandle(osthread->thread_handle());
  CloseHandle(osthread->interrupt_event());
  delete osthread;
}
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The point is that CloseHandle will release the _beginthreadexreturned HANDLE, thereby releasing the stack virtual memory