Use virtual threads in REST applications
In this guide, we see how you can use virtual threads in a REST application. Because virtual threads are all about I/O, we will also use the REST client.
Pré-requisitos
Para concluir este guia, você precisa:
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Cerca de 15 minutos
-
Um IDE
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JDK 17+ installed with
JAVA_HOMEconfigured appropriately -
Apache Maven 3.9.9
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Opcionalmente, o Quarkus CLI se você quiser usá-lo
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Opcionalmente, Mandrel ou GraalVM instalado e configurado apropriadamente se você quiser criar um executável nativo (ou Docker se você usar uma compilação de contêiner nativo)
Arquitetura
The application built into this guide is quite simple. It calls a weather service for two cities (Valence, France, and Athens, Greece) and decides the best place based on the current temperature.
Crie o projeto Maven
Primeiro, precisamos de um novo projeto. Crie um novo projeto com o seguinte comando:
Para usuários do Windows:
-
Se estiver usando cmd, (não use barra invertida '\' e coloque tudo na mesma linha)
-
Se estiver usando o Powershell, envolva os parâmetros '-D' entre aspas duplas, por exemplo, '"-DprojectArtifactId=rest-virtual-threads"'
This command generates a new project importing the Quarkus REST (formerly RESTEasy Reactive), REST client, and Jackson extensions, and in particular, adds the following dependencies:
<dependency>
<groupId>io.quarkus</groupId>
<artifactId>quarkus-rest-jackson</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>io.quarkus</groupId>
<artifactId>quarkus-rest-client-jackson</artifactId>
</dependency>implementation("io.quarkus:quarkus-rest-jackson")
implementation("quarkus-rest-client-jackson")|
You might wonder why we use reactive extensions. Virtual threads have limitations, and we can only integrate them properly when using the reactive extensions. No worries: your code will be written 100% in a synchronous / imperative style. Check the virtual thread reference guide for details. |
Prepare the pom.xml file
We need to customize the pom.xml file to use virtual threads.
1) Locate the line with <maven.compiler.release>17</maven.compiler.release>, and replace it with:
<maven.compiler.release>21</maven.compiler.release>2) In the maven-surefire-plugin and maven-failsafe-plugin configurations, add the following argLine parameter:
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
<version>${surefire-plugin.version}</version>
<configuration>
<systemPropertyVariables>
<java.util.logging.manager>org.jboss.logmanager.LogManager</java.util.logging.manager>
<maven.home>${maven.home}</maven.home>
</systemPropertyVariables>
<argLine>-Djdk.tracePinnedThreads</argLine> <!-- Added line -->
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
<version>${surefire-plugin.version}</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<goals>
<goal>integration-test</goal>
<goal>verify</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<systemPropertyVariables>
<native.image.path>${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}-runner</native.image.path>
<java.util.logging.manager>org.jboss.logmanager.LogManager</java.util.logging.manager>
<maven.home>${maven.home}</maven.home>
</systemPropertyVariables>
<argLine>-Djdk.tracePinnedThreads</argLine> <!-- Added line -->
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>The -Djdk.tracePinnedThreads will detect pinned carrier threads while running tests (See the virtual thread reference guide for details).
|
--enable-preview on Java 19 and 20
If you are using a Java 19 or 20, add the |
Create the weather client
This section is not about virtual threads. Because we need to do some I/O to demonstrate virtual threads usage, we need a client doing I/O operations. In addition, the REST client is virtual thread friendly: it does not pin and handle propagation correctly.
Create the src/main/java/org/acme/WeatherService.java class with the following content:
package org.acme;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import io.quarkus.rest.client.reactive.ClientQueryParam;
import jakarta.ws.rs.GET;
import org.eclipse.microprofile.rest.client.inject.RegisterRestClient;
import org.jboss.resteasy.reactive.RestQuery;
@RegisterRestClient(baseUri = "https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast")
public interface WeatherService {
@GET
@ClientQueryParam(name = "current_weather", value = "true")
WeatherResponse getWeather(@RestQuery double latitude, @RestQuery double longitude);
record WeatherResponse(@JsonProperty("current_weather") Weather weather) {
// represents the response
}
record Weather(double temperature, double windspeed) {
// represents the inner object
}
}This class models the HTTP interaction with the weather service. Read more about the rest client in the dedicated guide.
Create the HTTP endpoint
Now, create the src/main/java/org/acme/TheBestPlaceToBeResource.java class with the following content:
package org.acme;
import io.smallrye.common.annotation.RunOnVirtualThread;
import jakarta.ws.rs.GET;
import jakarta.ws.rs.Path;
import org.eclipse.microprofile.rest.client.inject.RestClient;
@Path("/")
public class TheBestPlaceToBeResource {
static final double VALENCE_LATITUDE = 44.9;
static final double VALENCE_LONGITUDE = 4.9;
static final double ATHENS_LATITUDE = 37.9;
static final double ATHENS_LONGITUDE = 23.7;
@RestClient WeatherService service;
@GET
@RunOnVirtualThread (1)
public String getTheBestPlaceToBe() {
var valence = service.getWeather(VALENCE_LATITUDE, VALENCE_LONGITUDE).weather().temperature();
var athens = service.getWeather(ATHENS_LATITUDE, ATHENS_LONGITUDE).weather().temperature();
// Advanced decision tree
if (valence > athens && valence <= 35) {
return "Valence! (" + Thread.currentThread() + ")";
} else if (athens > 35) {
return "Valence! (" + Thread.currentThread() + ")";
} else {
return "Athens (" + Thread.currentThread() + ")";
}
}
}| 1 | Instructs Quarkus to invoke this method on a virtual thread |
Run the application in dev mode
Make sure that you use OpenJDK and JVM versions supporting virtual thread and launch the dev mode with ./mvnw quarkus:dev:
> java --version
openjdk 21 2023-09-19 LTS (1)
OpenJDK Runtime Environment Temurin-21+35 (build 21+35-LTS)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Temurin-21+35 (build 21+35-LTS, mixed mode)
> ./mvnw quarkus:dev (2)| 1 | Must be 19+, we recommend 21+ |
| 2 | Launch the dev mode |
Then, in a browser, open http://localhost:8080. You should get something like:
Valence! (VirtualThread[#144]/runnable@ForkJoinPool-1-worker-6)As you can see, the endpoint runs on a virtual thread.
It’s essential to understand what happened behind the scene:
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Quarkus creates the virtual thread to invoke your endpoint (because of the
@RunOnVirtualThreadannotation). -
When the code invokes the rest client, the virtual thread is blocked, BUT the carrier thread is not blocked (that’s the virtual thread magic touch).
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Once the first invocation of the rest client completes, the virtual thread is rescheduled and continues its execution.
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The second rest client invocation happens, and the virtual thread is blocked again (but not the carrier thread).
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Finally, when the second invocation of the rest client completes, the virtual thread is rescheduled and continues its execution.
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The method returns the result. The virtual thread terminates.
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The result is captured by Quarkus and written in the HTTP response
Verify pinning using tests
In the pom.xml, we added an argLine argument to the surefire and failsafe plugins:
<argLine>-Djdk.tracePinnedThreads</argLine>The -Djdk.tracePinnedThreads dumps the stack trace if a virtual thread cannot be unmounted smoothly (meaning that it blocks the carrier thread).
That’s what we call pinning (more info in the virtual thread reference guide).
We recommend enabling this flag in tests. Thus, you can check that your application behaves correctly when using virtual threads. Just check your log after having run the test. If you see a stack trace… better check what’s wrong. If your code (or one of your dependencies) pins, it might be better to use regular worker thread instead.
Create the src/test/java/org/acme/TheBestPlaceToBeResourceTest.java class with the following content:
package org.acme;
import io.quarkus.test.junit.QuarkusTest;
import io.restassured.RestAssured;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
@QuarkusTest
class TheBestPlaceToBeResourceTest {
@Test
void verify() {
RestAssured.get("/")
.then()
.statusCode(200);
}
}It is a straightforward test, but at least it will detect if our application is pinning. Run the test with either:
-
rin dev mode (using continuous testing) -
./mvnw test
As you will see, it does not pin - no stack trace. It is because the REST client is implemented in a virtual-thread-friendly way.
The same approach can be used with integration tests.
Conclusion
This guide shows how you can use virtual threads with Quarkus REST and the REST client. Learn more about virtual threads support on:
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@RunOnVirtualThread in messaging applications (this guide covers Apache Kafka)
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the virtual thread reference guide (include native compilation and containerization)
