frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Made with ♥ by @iamnishanth

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

Understanding Java's Asynchronous Journey

https://amritpandey.io/understanding-javas-asynchronous-journey/
17•hardasspunk•8mo ago

Comments

Neywiny•8mo ago
I don't get it. The first example in JS vs Java looks very similar. Now all those other code blocks, they certainly have more going on but idk how that compares to JS. And to answer the questions:

A completable future is something that in the future may complete. I think that's self explanatory. A promise seems equally vague.

Boilerplate looks the same. JS is just a function, Java they put a class around it. Java requires exception handling which is annoying but having fought errors in async JS, I'll take all I can get.

API is eh. Sure. But that's not even shown in this example so I have no idea.

So JS saves like 3 lines? Is that really so much better?

cogman10•8mo ago
> A completable future is something that in the future may complete. I think that's self explanatory.

But not the reason for the name :).

It's called "completable" because these futures have a method on them `future.complete("value")`. Before their introduction, there was a `Future` API that java had.

nogridbag•8mo ago
Yeah that first example is rather poor. And it uses the word boilerpate to seemingly refer to the stuff unrelated to the async code (class declaration, exception handling, main method).

I don't use Java async much, but I guess if you have a utility method named "setTimeout" than the example can simply be:

    public CompletableFuture<String> fetchData() {
        return setTimeout(() -> "Data Fetched", 10000);
    }

    public void loadData() {
        fetchData().thenAccept(System.out::println);
    }
Which is simpler or equivalent to the JS example.
stevoski•8mo ago
The Java 1 example uses lambdas, which were introduced in Java 8.

It’s probably intentional, because it allows showing the Java 1 Thread approach succinctly.

But as long-term Java person, I find it jarring.

philipwhiuk•8mo ago
Java's had `var` since Java 10 but apparently the author deliberately ignored that to make the example as wordy as possible.

It's a little tiring to read a Java example with an entry-point (the public-static-void bit) and then a JavaScript example without one.

If you strip that out the original Java is:

  var future = CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> {
        try {
                Thread.sleep(10000);
            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
            return "Data Fetched";
        });
  future.thenAccept(result -> System.out.println(result));
  System.out.println("Prints first"); // prints before the async result
which is only obtuse due to checked exceptions.

Arguably it's still a different thing you're doing, because it's not scheduling a task on a pool, it's creating a thread which sleeps for 10 seconds.

elric•8mo ago
`var` is very unhelpful in situations where the reader might not be entirely familiar with the context, especially when using factory methods.

I don't think the author was trying to make the example "wordy" so much as "clear".

cogman10•8mo ago
Also, arguably, the wrong way to do something like this.

The author uses `setTimeout` for javascript. The equivalent for Java is either the `Timer` class or a `ScheduledExecutorService`. Doing a `Thread.sleep` simply isn't how you should approach this.

With that in mind, if you want to use both these things and keep the completable future interface you'd have to do soemthing like this.

    ScheduledExecutorService scheduler = Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(1);
    var future = new CompletableFuture<String>();
    scheduler.schedule(()->future.complete("Data Fetched"), 10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
    future.thenAccept(result -> System.out.println(result));
    System.out.println("Prints first"); // prints before the async result
    scheduler.shutdown();
wpollock•8mo ago
In Java 24, new features support educational and demonstration use. You don't need a class to wrap your main method, which also has a simpler signature. To compare JavaScript with Java examples, one should make use of these features.

While the examples may need some work, I enjoyed this post, it nicely shows the evolution of Java concurrency.

AtlasBarfed•8mo ago
Does no.js still limit you to a single core/CPU use?

Or as a node successfully been able to start utilizing more cores underneath its JavaScript single thread model. It presents the programmer?

I just remember early node.js from like 15 years ago and the single background task limitation of JavaScript running in a web page.

Cuz you got async code is nice, but what you really wanted to be able to harness in modern CPUs is multi-core

That said, I've been looking for an article like this for a while, although I think there are other associated libraries that also had steps in here. I do think the jvm adopted a lot of those, but I'm not sure if they actually are better than the original extension libraries.

msgilligan•8mo ago
I simplified the first example to:

  void main() {
      CompletableFuture<String> future = CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(this::asyncMethod);
      future.thenAccept(result -> IO.println(result));
      IO.println("Prints first");             // prints before the async result
      future.join();                          // Wait for future to complete
  }

  String asyncMethod() {
      try {
          Thread.sleep(10000);
      } catch (InterruptedException e) {
          return "Interrupted";
      }
      return "Data Fetched";
  }
I made the following changes:

1. Move the asynchronous function called in the CompletableFuture to its own method

2. Use Java 25 "instance main method" (see JEP 25: https://openjdk.org/jeps/512)

3. Use Java 25 IO.println() to simplify console output

4. Instead of throwing a fatal exception on interruption, return "Interrupted" immediately.

5. Use future.join() so the main method waits for the future to complete and the "Data fetched" output is printed.

This program can be run directly from source with `java Example.java`. (If you're using Java 24 or a version of Java 25 prior to EA 22, you need to use `java --enable-preview Example.java`)

Here is a modified version of the example that interrupts the thread:

  void main() {
      ExecutorService executor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
      CompletableFuture<String> future = CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(this::asyncMethod, executor);
      future.thenAccept(result -> IO.println(result));
      IO.println("Prints first");             // prints before the async result
      executor.shutdownNow();
      future.join();                          // Wait for future to complete
  }

  String asyncMethod() {
      try {
          Thread.sleep(10000);
      } catch (InterruptedException e) {
          return "Interrrupted";
      }
      return "Data Fetched";
  }

Nano Banana Pro-Studio-Quality AI Image GeneratorNano Banana Pro

https://bananapro.pro/
1•guowuzong•1m ago•1 comments

Alternatives to MinIO for single-node local S3

https://rmoff.net/2026/01/14/alternatives-to-minio-for-single-node-local-s3/
1•birdculture•2m ago•0 comments

One can mock the righteous, but Google won't index it

https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2026/01/17/one-can-mock-the-righteous-but-google-wont-index-it/
1•mhb•3m ago•0 comments

Corporate Governance Authoritarianism

https://www.businesslawprofessors.com/2026/01/corporate-governance-authoritarianism/
2•_delirium•7m ago•0 comments

ComfyUI – Overview

https://docs.comfy.org/development/overview
1•eustoria•8m ago•0 comments

The Malloc Maleficarum (2005)

https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2005/Oct/118
1•todsacerdoti•8m ago•0 comments

The thing that brought me joy

https://www.stephenlewis.me/blog/the-thing-that-brought-me-joy/
1•monooso•8m ago•0 comments

From culinary dud to stud: how Dutch plant breeders built a brussels sprouts boo

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/30/773457637/from-culinary-dud-to-stud-how-dutch-pla...
2•fanf2•9m ago•0 comments

U.S. Habits That Shock the Rest of the World

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/strange-american-customs
2•eustoria•10m ago•0 comments

How Computers Work

https://www.aweineverything.com/how-computers-work/
2•tadaspetra•10m ago•0 comments

The crisis whisperer: how Adam Tooze makes sense of our bewildering age

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/15/the-crisis-whisperer-how-adam-tooze-makes-sense-...
3•hackandthink•13m ago•0 comments

Facing the Paradox of Software Visualization

https://dundalek.com/entropic/softviz-paradox/
1•vitalnodo•14m ago•0 comments

Darwin Core

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Core
1•tosh•14m ago•0 comments

Musk seeks up to $134B from OpenAI and Microsoft in 'wrongful gains'

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/17/musk-lawsuit-opena-microsoft.html
2•dhfbshfbu4u3•15m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Xarticles – Browse X articles by category

https://xarticles.io/
1•vierj•20m ago•0 comments

FreeBSD 15.1 Aims to Have KDE Desktop Installer Option

https://www.phoronix.com/news/FreeBSD-15.1-KDE-Desktop-Option
2•mikece•20m ago•0 comments

Raising money fucked me up

https://blog.yakkomajuri.com/blog/raising-money-fucked-me-up
2•yakkomajuri•22m ago•0 comments

AWS databases now live on Vercel Marketplace and v0

https://vercel.com/blog/aws-databases-are-now-live-on-the-vercel-marketplace-and-v0
1•braebo•23m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Interactive timeline of US Military bases and interventions, 1900–today

https://metaphorician.com/american-empire
1•metaphorician•23m ago•0 comments

QucsStudio: A free and powerful circuit simulator

https://qucsstudio.de/
1•teleforce•23m ago•0 comments

I Used Claude to Build a Transcription Bot That Learns from Its Mistakes

https://www.macstories.net/stories/how-i-used-claude-to-build-a-transcription-bot-that-learns-fro...
2•tosh•24m ago•0 comments

Reverse Engineering a Biometric Attendance Machine

https://www.onlydarshan.com/posts/first_blog
2•leon3rd•25m ago•0 comments

ICML Experimental Program Using Google's Paper Assistant Tool (PAT)

https://blog.icml.cc/2026/01/14/icml-experimental-program-using-googles-paper-assistant-tool-pat/
1•fahrbach•26m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Upseated – Swap airplane seats with other passengers

https://upseated.com/
1•ndshrubs•26m ago•1 comments

Automation Isn't Innovation

3•geroge_kyaw•31m ago•0 comments

Writes vs. Talks About Software

https://substack.com/inbox/post/184880745
3•markferree•31m ago•0 comments

Trump vows tariffs on eight European nations over Greenland

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/trump-vows-tariffs-eight-european-nations-over-greenland-202...
4•TechTechTech•33m ago•1 comments

My free biohacking database with AI matching turns 1

https://dopamine.club/
2•ainthusiast•37m ago•1 comments

Worse Than the Dot Com Bubble

https://www.wheresyoured.at/dot-com-bubble/
2•abhi_kr•38m ago•1 comments

Ask HN: Best book(s) to learn Assembly as a first language

1•abkt•38m ago•0 comments