Java中存在Runnable、Callable、Future、FutureTask这几个与线程相关的类或者接口，在Java中也是比较重要的几个概念，我们通过下面的简单示例来了解一下它们的作用于区别。

Runnable

其中Runnable应该是我们最熟悉的接口，它只有一个run()函数，用于将耗时操作写在其中，该函数没有返回值。然后使用某个线程去执行该runnable即可实现多线程，Thread类在调用start()函数后就是执行的是Runnable的run()函数。Runnable的声明如下 :

@FunctionalInterface
public interface Runnable {
    /**
     * When an object implementing interface <code>Runnable</code> is used
     * to create a thread, starting the thread causes the object‘s
     * <code>run</code> method to be called in that separately executing
     * thread.
     * <p>
     * The general contract of the method <code>run</code> is that it may
     * take any action whatsoever.
     *
     * @see     java.lang.Thread#run()
     */
    public abstract void run();
}

Callable

Callable与Runnable的功能大致相似，Callable中有一个call()函数，但是call()函数有返回值，而Runnable的run()函数不能将结果返回给客户程序。Callable的声明如下 :

@FunctionalInterface
public interface Callable<V> {
    /**
     * Computes a result, or throws an exception if unable to do so.
     *
     * @return computed result
     * @throws Exception if unable to compute a result
     */
    V call() throws Exception;
}

可以看到，这是一个泛型接口，call()函数返回的类型就是客户程序传递进来的V类型。

Future

Executor就是Runnable和Callable的调度容器，Future就是对于具体的Runnable或者Callable任务的执行结果进行取消、查询是否完成、获取结果、设置结果操作。get方法会阻塞，直到任务返回结果(Future简介)。Future声明如下:

* @see FutureTask
 * @see Executor
 * @since 1.5
 * @author Doug Lea
 * @param <V> The result type returned by this Future‘s {@code get} method
 */
public interface Future<V> {

    /**
     * Attempts to cancel execution of this task.  This attempt will
     * fail if the task has already completed, has already been cancelled,
     * or could not be cancelled for some other reason. If successful,
     * and this task has not started when {@code cancel} is called,
     * this task should never run.  If the task has already started,
     * then the {@code mayInterruptIfRunning} parameter determines
     * whether the thread executing this task should be interrupted in
     * an attempt to stop the task.
     *
     * <p>After this method returns, subsequent calls to {@link #isDone} will
     * always return {@code true}.  Subsequent calls to {@link #isCancelled}
     * will always return {@code true} if this method returned {@code true}.
     *
     * @param mayInterruptIfRunning {@code true} if the thread executing this
     * task should be interrupted; otherwise, in-progress tasks are allowed
     * to complete
     * @return {@code false} if the task could not be cancelled,
     * typically because it has already completed normally;
     * {@code true} otherwise
     */
    boolean cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfRunning);

    /**
     * Returns {@code true} if this task was cancelled before it completed
     * normally.
     *
     * @return {@code true} if this task was cancelled before it completed
     */
    boolean isCancelled();

    /**
     * Returns {@code true} if this task completed.
     *
     * Completion may be due to normal termination, an exception, or
     * cancellation -- in all of these cases, this method will return
     * {@code true}.
     *
     * @return {@code true} if this task completed
     */
    boolean isDone();

    /**
     * Waits if necessary for the computation to complete, and then
     * retrieves its result.
     *
     * @return the computed result
     * @throws CancellationException if the computation was cancelled
     * @throws ExecutionException if the computation threw an
     * exception
     * @throws InterruptedException if the current thread was interrupted
     * while waiting
     */
    V get() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException;

    /**
     * Waits if necessary for at most the given time for the computation
     * to complete, and then retrieves its result, if available.
     *
     * @param timeout the maximum time to wait
     * @param unit the time unit of the timeout argument
     * @return the computed result
     * @throws CancellationException if the computation was cancelled
     * @throws ExecutionException if the computation threw an
     * exception
     * @throws InterruptedException if the current thread was interrupted
     * while waiting
     * @throws TimeoutException if the wait timed out
     */
    V get(long timeout, TimeUnit unit)
        throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException;
}

FutureTask
FutureTask则是一个RunnableFuture< V>，而RunnableFuture实现了Runnbale又实现了Futrue< V>这两个接口：

public class FutureTask<V> implements RunnableFuture<V> {
......
}

RunnableFuture

/**
 * A {@link Future} that is {@link Runnable}. Successful execution of
 * the {@code run} method causes completion of the {@code Future}
 * and allows access to its results.
 * @see FutureTask
 * @see Executor
 * @since 1.6
 * @author Doug Lea
 * @param <V> The result type returned by this Future‘s {@code get} method
 */
public interface RunnableFuture<V> extends Runnable, Future<V> {
    /**
     * Sets this Future to the result of its computation
     * unless it has been cancelled.
     */
    void run();
}

另外FutureTask还可以包装Runnable和Callable< V>， 由构造函数注入依赖。

/**
     * Creates a {@code FutureTask} that will, upon running, execute the
     * given {@code Callable}.
     *
     * @param  callable the callable task
     * @throws NullPointerException if the callable is null
     */
    public FutureTask(Callable<V> callable) {
        if (callable == null)
            throw new NullPointerException();
        this.callable = callable;
        this.state = NEW;       // ensure visibility of callable
    }

    /**
     * Creates a {@code FutureTask} that will, upon running, execute the
     * given {@code Runnable}, and arrange that {@code get} will return the
     * given result on successful completion.
     *
     * @param runnable the runnable task
     * @param result the result to return on successful completion. If
     * you don‘t need a particular result, consider using
     * constructions of the form:
     * {@code Future<?> f = new FutureTask<Void>(runnable, null)}
     * @throws NullPointerException if the runnable is null
     */
    public FutureTask(Runnable runnable, V result) {
        this.callable = Executors.callable(runnable, result);
        this.state = NEW;       // ensure visibility of callable
    }

可以看到，Runnable注入会被Executors.callable()函数转换为Callable类型，即FutureTask最终都是执行Callable类型的任务。该适配函数的实现如下 ：

/**
     * Returns a {@link Callable} object that, when
     * called, runs the given task and returns the given result.  This
     * can be useful when applying methods requiring a
     * {@code Callable} to an otherwise resultless action.
     * @param task the task to run
     * @param result the result to return
     * @param <T> the type of the result
     * @return a callable object
     * @throws NullPointerException if task null
     */
    public static <T> Callable<T> callable(Runnable task, T result) {
        if (task == null)
            throw new NullPointerException();
        return new RunnableAdapter<T>(task, result);
    }

RunnableAdapter适配器

 /**
     * A callable that runs given task and returns given result
     */
    static final class RunnableAdapter<T> implements Callable<T> {
        final Runnable task;
        final T result;
        RunnableAdapter(Runnable task, T result) {
            this.task = task;
            this.result = result;
        }
        public T call() {
            task.run();
            return result;
        }
    }

由于FutureTask实现了Runnable，因此它既可以通过Thread包装来直接执行，也可以提交给ExecuteService来执行。并且还可以直接通过get()函数获取执行结果，该函数会阻塞，直到结果返回。

因此FutureTask既是Future、Runnable，又是包装了Callable(如果是Runnable最终也会被转换为Callable )， 它是这两者的合体。

完整示例：

package com.stay4it.rx;

import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.Future;
import java.util.concurrent.FutureTask;

public class FutureTest {

    public static class Task implements Runnable {

        @Override
        public void run() {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            System.out.println("run");
        }

    }
    public static class Task2 implements Callable<Integer> {

        @Override
        public Integer call() throws Exception {
            System.out.println("call");
            return fibc(30);
        }

    }

     /** 
     * runnable, 无返回值 
     */  
    public static void testRunnable(){
        ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();

        Future<String> future = (Future<String>) executorService.submit(new Task());
        try {
            System.out.println(future.get());
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (ExecutionException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        executorService.shutdown();
    }

    /** 
     * Callable, 有返回值 
     */  
    public static void testCallable(){
        ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();

        Future<Integer> future = (Future<Integer>) executorService.submit(new Task2());
        try {
            System.out.println(future.get());
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (ExecutionException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        executorService.shutdown();
    }

     /** 
     * FutureTask则是一个RunnableFuture<V>，即实现了Runnbale又实现了Futrue<V>这两个接口， 
     * 另外它还可以包装Runnable(实际上会转换为Callable)和Callable 
     * <V>，所以一般来讲是一个符合体了，它可以通过Thread包装来直接执行，也可以提交给ExecuteService来执行 
     * ，并且还可以通过v get()返回执行结果，在线程体没有执行完成的时候，主线程一直阻塞等待，执行完则直接返回结果。 
     */  
    public static void testFutureTask(){
        ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();
        FutureTask<Integer> futureTask = new FutureTask<Integer>(new Task2());

        executorService.submit(futureTask);
        try {
            System.out.println(futureTask.get());
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (ExecutionException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        executorService.shutdown();
    }

     /** 
     * FutureTask则是一个RunnableFuture<V>，即实现了Runnbale又实现了Futrue<V>这两个接口， 
     * 另外它还可以包装Runnable(实际上会转换为Callable)和Callable 
     * <V>，所以一般来讲是一个符合体了，它可以通过Thread包装来直接执行，也可以提交给ExecuteService来执行 
     * ，并且还可以通过v get()返回执行结果，在线程体没有执行完成的时候，主线程一直阻塞等待，执行完则直接返回结果。 
     */  
    public static void testFutureTask2(){
        ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();
        FutureTask<Integer> futureTask = new FutureTask<Integer>(new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub
                System.out.println("testFutureTask2 run");
            }
        },fibc(30));

        executorService.submit(futureTask);
        try {
            System.out.println(futureTask.get());
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (ExecutionException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        executorService.shutdown();
    }



    public static void main(String[] args) {

        testCallable();

    }

    /** 
     * 效率低下的斐波那契数列, 耗时的操作 
     *  
     * @param num 
     * @return 
     */  
    static int fibc(int num) {  
        if (num == 0) {  
            return 0;  
        }  
        if (num == 1) {  
            return 1;  
        }  
        return fibc(num - 1) + fibc(num - 2);  
    }  

}