Java Concurrency in Practice

Chapter 1. Introduction

Writing correct programs is hard; writing correct concurrent programs is harder. There are simply more things that can go wrong in a concurrent program than in a sequential one. So, why do we bother with concurrency? Threads are an inescapable feature of the Java language, and they can simplify the development of complex systems by turning complicated asynchronous code into simpler straight-line code. In addition, threads are the easiest way to tap the computing power of multiprocessor systems. And, as processor counts increase, exploiting concurrency effectively will only become more important.

1.1. A (Very) Brief History of Concurrency

In the ancient past, computers didn't have operating systems; they executed a single ...