Creating Thread by implementing Runnable interface

The Runnable interface should be implemented by any class whose instances are intended to be executed by a thread.

Runnable interface has only one method, i.e., run().

Prototype of run method is

public void run();

Example

class MyThread implements Runnable{
 public void run(){
  System.out.println("I am in run method");
 }

 public static void main(String args[]){
  MyThread task = new MyThread();
  Thread t1 = new Thread(task);
  t1.start();
 }
}

Output

I am in run method

Advantages of creating thread using Runnable as compared to extending Thread

1. By using runnable, you can create a task, and make number of threads to call it.

Example

class MyThread implements Runnable{
 public void run(){
  System.out.println("I am in run method");
 }

 public static void main(String args[]){
  MyThread task = new MyThread();
  Thread t1 = new Thread(task);
  Thread t2 = new Thread(task);
  t1.start();
  t2.start();
 }
}

Output

I am in run method
I am in run method

2. If you create a thread by extending Thread class, then you are not allowed to extend any other class. Since java doesn't support multiple inheritance.

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