Thread Methods destroy() and stop(Throwable) Removed in JDK 11

The message " RFR(s): 8204243: remove Thread.destroy() and Thread.stop(Throwable) " by @DrDeprecator (Stuart Marks) on the core-libs-dev OpenJDK mailing list is a request for review (RFR) of a changeset associated with  JDK-8204243 ["remove Thread.destroy() and Thread.stop(Throwable)"]. Both the bug report and the mailing list message describe the history of these two referenced Thread methods and explain that neither method really does anything useful.

The JDK 10 Javadoc API documentation for the  java.lang.Thread shows six methods on the Thread class that are deprecated. Three of which are explicitly marked for removal. The table below summarizes these deprecated Thread methods.

METHODS DEPRECATED IN JAVA.LANG.THREAD AS OF JDK 10 METHOD

DEPRECATED

SINCE

FOR

REMOVAL?

JDK 10

STATUS

countStackFrames() 1.2 Yes Depends on deprecated suspend() destroy() 1.5 Yes Throws NoSuchMethodError since inception
( never implemented ) resume() 1.2 No " Exists solely for use with suspend() " stop() 1.2 No " This method is inherently unsafe. " stop(Throwable) 1.2 Yes Throws UnsupportedOperationException since JDK 8 suspend() 1.2 No " This method ... is inherently deadlock-prone. "

It now appears that two of the three Thread methods that are deprecated and marked for removal will be removed with JDK 11. These methods include  Thread.destroy() and Thread.stop(Throwable) and they should be completely removed with the release of JDK 11. The destroy() method has never done anything except throw the NoSuchMethodError. The stop(Throwable) method hasn't done anything except throw the UnsupportedOperationException since JDK 8. Good riddance to these two fruitless methods!

Additional References

• Java Thread Primitive Deprecation
• How to Kill a Java Thread
• Why stop, suspend, and resume of Thread are Deprecated
• RFR(s): 8204243: remove Thread.destroy() and Thread.stop(Throwable)
• JDK-8204243 ["remove Thread.destroy() and Thread.stop(Throwable)"]
• JDK-8204260 ["remove Thread.destroy() and Thread.stop(Throwable)"]
• JDK-4102667 ["Thread.countStackFrames() should be a deprecated method."]
• JDK-8177680 ["Umbrella: Remove terminally deprecated APIs from JDK 11"]
• JDK-8177554 ["Umbrella: Remove terminally deprecated APIs from JDK 10"]
• Time to put a stop to Thread.stop? ( revisited )