Thread state conflict inside run method; Why thread state is not "RUNNING"

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I am doing some testing to understand the different thread states in a java, and got struck with a few queries.

Normally, when a thread is instantiated it is said to be in the "NEW" state and then when invoked the start() method on it, the operating system scheduler gets the control and is in "RUNNABLE" state and further when run() is invoked internally by start() it is said to be in running state.

Thread.currentThread().getState() // Returns the state of the thread

But observed when executed the below code, the thread state never gets displayed as "RUNNING" even when tested inside the run method.

Can anyone help me understand why does it behave like this ?

public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Hello World");
        Thread t=new Thread(()->{
            System.out.println("Hi");
            System.out.println(Thread.currentThread().getState());  //// STATE DISPLAYED AS "RUNNABLE" AGAIN
        });
        System.out.println(t.getState());  // STATE DISPLAYED AS "NEW"
        t.start();
        System.out.println(t.getState());  // STATE DISPLAYED AS "RUNNABLE"
}

lambda expression is used to implement the run() method where we are testing the state of the thread which again displays as "RUNNABLE" instead of "RUNNING"

parallel-processing concurrency multithreading java
1 Answers

Because the state RUNNING does not exist. If you look at the definition of the getState method you see the following:

public State getState() {
    // get current thread state
    return jdk.internal.misc.VM.toThreadState(threadStatus);
}

and if you analyze what State is, you can see that it is the following ENUM:

   public enum State {
        /**
         * Thread state for a thread which has not yet started.
         */
        NEW,

        /**
         * Thread state for a runnable thread.  A thread in the runnable
         * state is executing in the Java virtual machine but it may
         * be waiting for other resources from the operating system
         * such as processor.
         */
        RUNNABLE,

        /**
         * Thread state for a thread blocked waiting for a monitor lock.
         * A thread in the blocked state is waiting for a monitor lock
         * to enter a synchronized block/method or
         * reenter a synchronized block/method after calling
         * {@link Object#wait() Object.wait}.
         */
        BLOCKED,

        /**
         * Thread state for a waiting thread.
         * A thread is in the waiting state due to calling one of the
         * following methods:
         * <ul>
         *   <li>{@link Object#wait() Object.wait} with no timeout</li>
         *   <li>{@link #join() Thread.join} with no timeout</li>
         *   <li>{@link LockSupport#park() LockSupport.park}</li>
         * </ul>
         *
         * <p>A thread in the waiting state is waiting for another thread to
         * perform a particular action.
         *
         * For example, a thread that has called {@code Object.wait()}
         * on an object is waiting for another thread to call
         * {@code Object.notify()} or {@code Object.notifyAll()} on
         * that object. A thread that has called {@code Thread.join()}
         * is waiting for a specified thread to terminate.
         */
        WAITING,

        /**
         * Thread state for a waiting thread with a specified waiting time.
         * A thread is in the timed waiting state due to calling one of
         * the following methods with a specified positive waiting time:
         * <ul>
         *   <li>{@link #sleep Thread.sleep}</li>
         *   <li>{@link Object#wait(long) Object.wait} with timeout</li>
         *   <li>{@link #join(long) Thread.join} with timeout</li>
         *   <li>{@link LockSupport#parkNanos LockSupport.parkNanos}</li>
         *   <li>{@link LockSupport#parkUntil LockSupport.parkUntil}</li>
         * </ul>
         */
        TIMED_WAITING,

        /**
         * Thread state for a terminated thread.
         * The thread has completed execution.
         */
        TERMINATED;
    }

Or from API Thread.State:

public static enum Thread.State extends Enum<Thread.State> A thread state. A thread can be in one of the following states:

NEW A thread that has not yet started is in this state.

RUNNABLE A thread executing in the Java virtual machine is in this state.

BLOCKED A thread that is blocked waiting for a monitor lock is in this state.

WAITING A thread that is waiting indefinitely for another thread to perform a particular action is in this state.

TIMED_WAITING A thread that is waiting for another thread to perform an action for up to a specified waiting time is in this state.

TERMINATED A thread that has exited is in this state. A thread can be in only one state at a given point in time. These states are virtual machine states which do not reflect any operating system thread states.

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