From the course: Parallel and Concurrent Programming with Java 2

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Future

Future - Java Tutorial

From the course: Parallel and Concurrent Programming with Java 2

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Future

- Launching asynchronous tasks is a great way to accomplish multiple things at once. - Olivia, can you go check how many vegetables are in the pantry? - Sure, I can do that. - While Olivia is busy asynchronously counting veggies, my thread is free to continue doing other work. But now she's gone and I need a way to get that result back from her when she's done. This is where a mechanism called a future can be used. A future acts as a placeholder for a result for a result that's initially unknown, but will be available at some point in the future. It provides a mechanism to access the result of an asynchronous operation. I like to think of a future like an IOU note for the result. Hey Oliva! - Hey-o. - Hey, I need you to check how many vegetables are in the pantry and give me back an answer. - Sure, I promise to do that and here's an IOU note that I'll get you that answer. - Thank you. Now I've got a handle to see that future result and I'll hold onto it as I continue doing other work…

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