AsyncTask.executeOnExecutor() before API Level 11

If your build target is set to API Level 11 or higher, and you want to specifically use parallel tasks, you will want to start stating that explicitly in your code, akin to:

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT>=Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {  myTask.executeOnExecutor(AsyncTask.THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR, (Void[]) null);}else {  myTask.execute((Void) null);}

http://commonsware.com/blog/2012/04/20/asynctask-threading-regression-confirmed.html

It has been a long time since I asked this question, from time to time, I can find similar question asked in StackOverflow ending without solid answer, so I decide to do some further study and try to answer it myself.

Some thing I should point out first is in most common cases, the default behaviour of the underlying threadpool implementation came with AsyncTask API is sufficient and it is unnecessary to alter it by using AsyncTask.executeOnExecutor() especially when you targeting on earlier version before HoneyComb, which has already stated in CommonsWare's answer. However, If you do need fine control the underdying threadpool on earlier version of SDK by using AsyncTask.executeOnExecutor(), here is the answer you may interested.

Generally speaking, my solution is simply copy the newly version of AsyncTask (from API Level 11) into our own AsyncTask implementation and make it work with earlier Android SDK (down to API Level 3). First, read AsyncTask source code here and make sure you get a basic idea of how it is implemented.

From the source code, you can see that almost all classes imported and used by AsyncTask are introduced since API level 1, that is all classes from java.util.concurrent.* plus other three (Handler, Message and Process) from android.os.*, the only except is java.util.ArrayDeque which is introduced into Android SDK since API Level 9. ArrayDeque is only used for implement one of the default Executor SERIAL_EXECUTOR came with AsyncTask, to make our AsyncTask.executeOnExecutor() available on old Android SDK, simple remove SERIAL_EXECUTOR implementation from the source code, same behaviour can be achieved by using singleThreadPoolExecutor.

Modified source code is attached at the end (tested on Gingerbread). What you need to do now is extends you AsyncTask from this com.example.AsyncTask instead of android.os.AsyncTask, which support AsyncTask.executeOnExecutor() down to API Level 3.

package com.example;/* * Copyright (C) 2008 The Android Open Source Project * * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. * You may obtain a copy of the License at * *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 * * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and * limitations under the License. *///import java.util.ArrayDeque;import java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue;import java.util.concurrent.Callable;import java.util.concurrent.CancellationException;import java.util.concurrent.Executor;import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;import java.util.concurrent.FutureTask;import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;import java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor;import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;import android.os.Handler;import android.os.Message;import android.os.Process;/** * ### I delete this comments as it make the answer too long to submit ### */public abstract class AsyncTask<Params, Progress, Result> {    private static final String LOG_TAG = "AsyncTask";    private static final int CORE_POOL_SIZE = 5;    private static final int MAXIMUM_POOL_SIZE = 128;    private static final int KEEP_ALIVE = 1;    private static final ThreadFactory sThreadFactory = new ThreadFactory() {        private final AtomicInteger mCount = new AtomicInteger(1);        public Thread newThread(Runnable r) {            return new Thread(r, "AsyncTask #" + mCount.getAndIncrement());        }    };    private static final BlockingQueue<Runnable> sPoolWorkQueue =            new LinkedBlockingQueue<Runnable>(10);    /**     * An {@link Executor} that can be used to execute tasks in parallel.     */    public static final Executor THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR            = new ThreadPoolExecutor(CORE_POOL_SIZE, MAXIMUM_POOL_SIZE, KEEP_ALIVE,                    TimeUnit.SECONDS, sPoolWorkQueue, sThreadFactory);    /**     * An {@link Executor} that executes tasks one at a time in serial     * order.  This serialization is global to a particular process.     *///    public static final Executor SERIAL_EXECUTOR = new SerialExecutor();    private static final int MESSAGE_POST_RESULT = 0x1;    private static final int MESSAGE_POST_PROGRESS = 0x2;    private static final InternalHandler sHandler = new InternalHandler();//    private static volatile Executor sDefaultExecutor = SERIAL_EXECUTOR;    private static volatile Executor sDefaultExecutor = THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR;    private final WorkerRunnable<Params, Result> mWorker;    private final FutureTask<Result> mFuture;    private volatile Status mStatus = Status.PENDING;    private final AtomicBoolean mTaskInvoked = new AtomicBoolean();//    private static class SerialExecutor implements Executor {//        final ArrayDeque<Runnable> mTasks = new ArrayDeque<Runnable>();//        Runnable mActive;////        public synchronized void execute(final Runnable r) {//            mTasks.offer(new Runnable() {//                public void run() {//                    try {//                        r.run();//                    } finally {//                        scheduleNext();//                    }//                }//            });//            if (mActive == null) {//                scheduleNext();//            }//        }////        protected synchronized void scheduleNext() {//            if ((mActive = mTasks.poll()) != null) {//                THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR.execute(mActive);//            }//        }//    }    /**     * Indicates the current status of the task. Each status will be set only once     * during the lifetime of a task.     */    public enum Status {        /**         * Indicates that the task has not been executed yet.         */        PENDING,        /**         * Indicates that the task is running.         */        RUNNING,        /**         * Indicates that {@link AsyncTask#onPostExecute} has finished.         */        FINISHED,    }    /** @hide Used to force static handler to be created. */    public static void init() {        sHandler.getLooper();    }    /** @hide */    public static void setDefaultExecutor(Executor exec) {        sDefaultExecutor = exec;    }    /**     * Creates a new asynchronous task. This constructor must be invoked on the UI thread.     */    public AsyncTask() {        mWorker = new WorkerRunnable<Params, Result>() {            public Result call() throws Exception {                mTaskInvoked.set(true);                Process.setThreadPriority(Process.THREAD_PRIORITY_BACKGROUND);                return postResult(doInBackground(mParams));            }        };        mFuture = new FutureTask<Result>(mWorker) {            @Override            protected void done() {                try {                    final Result result = get();                    postResultIfNotInvoked(result);                } catch (InterruptedException e) {                    android.util.Log.w(LOG_TAG, e);                } catch (ExecutionException e) {                    throw new RuntimeException("An error occured while executing doInBackground()",                            e.getCause());                } catch (CancellationException e) {                    postResultIfNotInvoked(null);                } catch (Throwable t) {                    throw new RuntimeException("An error occured while executing "                            + "doInBackground()", t);                }            }        };    }    private void postResultIfNotInvoked(Result result) {        final boolean wasTaskInvoked = mTaskInvoked.get();        if (!wasTaskInvoked) {            postResult(result);        }    }    private Result postResult(Result result) {        Message message = sHandler.obtainMessage(MESSAGE_POST_RESULT,                new AsyncTaskResult<Result>(this, result));        message.sendToTarget();        return result;    }    /**     * Returns the current status of this task.     *     * @return The current status.     */    public final Status getStatus() {        return mStatus;    }    /**     * Override this method to perform a computation on a background thread. The     * specified parameters are the parameters passed to {@link #execute}     * by the caller of this task.     *     * This method can call {@link #publishProgress} to publish updates     * on the UI thread.     *     * @param params The parameters of the task.     *     * @return A result, defined by the subclass of this task.     *     * @see #onPreExecute()     * @see #onPostExecute     * @see #publishProgress     */    protected abstract Result doInBackground(Params... params);    /**     * Runs on the UI thread before {@link #doInBackground}.     *     * @see #onPostExecute     * @see #doInBackground     */    protected void onPreExecute() {    }    /**     * <p>Runs on the UI thread after {@link #doInBackground}. The     * specified result is the value returned by {@link #doInBackground}.</p>     *      * <p>This method won't be invoked if the task was cancelled.</p>     *     * @param result The result of the operation computed by {@link #doInBackground}.     *     * @see #onPreExecute     * @see #doInBackground     * @see #onCancelled(Object)      */    @SuppressWarnings({"UnusedDeclaration"})    protected void onPostExecute(Result result) {    }    /**     * Runs on the UI thread after {@link #publishProgress} is invoked.     * The specified values are the values passed to {@link #publishProgress}.     *     * @param values The values indicating progress.     *     * @see #publishProgress     * @see #doInBackground     */    @SuppressWarnings({"UnusedDeclaration"})    protected void onProgressUpdate(Progress... values) {    }    /**     * <p>Runs on the UI thread after {@link #cancel(boolean)} is invoked and     * {@link #doInBackground(Object[])} has finished.</p>     *      * <p>The default implementation simply invokes {@link #onCancelled()} and     * ignores the result. If you write your own implementation, do not call     * <code>super.onCancelled(result)</code>.</p>     *     * @param result The result, if any, computed in     *               {@link #doInBackground(Object[])}, can be null     *      * @see #cancel(boolean)     * @see #isCancelled()     */    @SuppressWarnings({"UnusedParameters"})    protected void onCancelled(Result result) {        onCancelled();    }        /**     * <p>Applications should preferably override {@link #onCancelled(Object)}.     * This method is invoked by the default implementation of     * {@link #onCancelled(Object)}.</p>     *      * <p>Runs on the UI thread after {@link #cancel(boolean)} is invoked and     * {@link #doInBackground(Object[])} has finished.</p>     *     * @see #onCancelled(Object)      * @see #cancel(boolean)     * @see #isCancelled()     */    protected void onCancelled() {    }    /**     * Returns <tt>true</tt> if this task was cancelled before it completed     * normally. If you are calling {@link #cancel(boolean)} on the task,     * the value returned by this method should be checked periodically from     * {@link #doInBackground(Object[])} to end the task as soon as possible.     *     * @return <tt>true</tt> if task was cancelled before it completed     *     * @see #cancel(boolean)     */    public final boolean isCancelled() {        return mFuture.isCancelled();    }    /**     * <p>Attempts to cancel execution of this task.  This attempt will     * fail if the task has already completed, already been cancelled,     * or could not be cancelled for some other reason. If successful,     * and this task has not started when <tt>cancel</tt> is called,     * this task should never run. If the task has already started,     * then the <tt>mayInterruptIfRunning</tt> parameter determines     * whether the thread executing this task should be interrupted in     * an attempt to stop the task.</p>     *      * <p>Calling this method will result in {@link #onCancelled(Object)} being     * invoked on the UI thread after {@link #doInBackground(Object[])}     * returns. Calling this method guarantees that {@link #onPostExecute(Object)}     * is never invoked. After invoking this method, you should check the     * value returned by {@link #isCancelled()} periodically from     * {@link #doInBackground(Object[])} to finish the task as early as     * possible.</p>     *     * @param mayInterruptIfRunning <tt>true</tt> if the thread executing this     *        task should be interrupted; otherwise, in-progress tasks are allowed     *        to complete.     *     * @return <tt>false</tt> if the task could not be cancelled,     *         typically because it has already completed normally;     *         <tt>true</tt> otherwise     *     * @see #isCancelled()     * @see #onCancelled(Object)     */    public final boolean cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfRunning) {        return mFuture.cancel(mayInterruptIfRunning);    }    /**     * 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.     */    public final Result get() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException {        return mFuture.get();    }    /**     * Waits if necessary for at most the given time for the computation     * to complete, and then retrieves its result.     *     * @param timeout Time to wait before cancelling the operation.     * @param unit The time unit for the timeout.     *     * @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.     */    public final Result get(long timeout, TimeUnit unit) throws InterruptedException,            ExecutionException, TimeoutException {        return mFuture.get(timeout, unit);    }    /**     * Executes the task with the specified parameters. The task returns     * itself (this) so that the caller can keep a reference to it.     *      * <p>Note: this function schedules the task on a queue for a single background     * thread or pool of threads depending on the platform version.  When first     * introduced, AsyncTasks were executed serially on a single background thread.     * Starting with {@link android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES#DONUT}, this was changed     * to a pool of threads allowing multiple tasks to operate in parallel.  After     * {@link android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES#HONEYCOMB}, it is planned to change this     * back to a single thread to avoid common application errors caused     * by parallel execution.  If you truly want parallel execution, you can use     * the {@link #executeOnExecutor} version of this method     * with {@link #THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR}; however, see commentary there for warnings on     * its use.     *     * <p>This method must be invoked on the UI thread.     *     * @param params The parameters of the task.     *     * @return This instance of AsyncTask.     *     * @throws IllegalStateException If {@link #getStatus()} returns either     *         {@link AsyncTask.Status#RUNNING} or {@link AsyncTask.Status#FINISHED}.     */    public final AsyncTask<Params, Progress, Result> execute(Params... params) {        return executeOnExecutor(sDefaultExecutor, params);    }    /**     * Executes the task with the specified parameters. The task returns     * itself (this) so that the caller can keep a reference to it.     *      * <p>This method is typically used with {@link #THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR} to     * allow multiple tasks to run in parallel on a pool of threads managed by     * AsyncTask, however you can also use your own {@link Executor} for custom     * behavior.     *      * <p><em>Warning:</em> Allowing multiple tasks to run in parallel from     * a thread pool is generally <em>not</em> what one wants, because the order     * of their operation is not defined.  For example, if these tasks are used     * to modify any state in common (such as writing a file due to a button click),     * there are no guarantees on the order of the modifications.     * Without careful work it is possible in rare cases for the newer version     * of the data to be over-written by an older one, leading to obscure data     * loss and stability issues.  Such changes are best     * executed in serial; to guarantee such work is serialized regardless of     * platform version you can use this function with {@link #SERIAL_EXECUTOR}.     *     * <p>This method must be invoked on the UI thread.     *     * @param exec The executor to use.  {@link #THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR} is available as a     *              convenient process-wide thread pool for tasks that are loosely coupled.     * @param params The parameters of the task.     *     * @return This instance of AsyncTask.     *     * @throws IllegalStateException If {@link #getStatus()} returns either     *         {@link AsyncTask.Status#RUNNING} or {@link AsyncTask.Status#FINISHED}.     */    public final AsyncTask<Params, Progress, Result> executeOnExecutor(Executor exec,            Params... params) {        if (mStatus != Status.PENDING) {            switch (mStatus) {                case RUNNING:                    throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot execute task:"                            + " the task is already running.");                case FINISHED:                    throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot execute task:"                            + " the task has already been executed "                            + "(a task can be executed only once)");            }        }        mStatus = Status.RUNNING;        onPreExecute();        mWorker.mParams = params;        exec.execute(mFuture);        return this;    }    /**     * Convenience version of {@link #execute(Object...)} for use with     * a simple Runnable object.     */    public static void execute(Runnable runnable) {        sDefaultExecutor.execute(runnable);    }    /**     * This method can be invoked from {@link #doInBackground} to     * publish updates on the UI thread while the background computation is     * still running. Each call to this method will trigger the execution of     * {@link #onProgressUpdate} on the UI thread.     *     * {@link #onProgressUpdate} will note be called if the task has been     * canceled.     *     * @param values The progress values to update the UI with.     *     * @see #onProgressUpdate     * @see #doInBackground     */    protected final void publishProgress(Progress... values) {        if (!isCancelled()) {            sHandler.obtainMessage(MESSAGE_POST_PROGRESS,                    new AsyncTaskResult<Progress>(this, values)).sendToTarget();        }    }    private void finish(Result result) {        if (isCancelled()) {            onCancelled(result);        } else {            onPostExecute(result);        }        mStatus = Status.FINISHED;    }    private static class InternalHandler extends Handler {        @SuppressWarnings({"unchecked", "RawUseOfParameterizedType"})        @Override        public void handleMessage(Message msg) {            AsyncTaskResult result = (AsyncTaskResult) msg.obj;            switch (msg.what) {                case MESSAGE_POST_RESULT:                    // There is only one result                    result.mTask.finish(result.mData[0]);                    break;                case MESSAGE_POST_PROGRESS:                    result.mTask.onProgressUpdate(result.mData);                    break;            }        }    }    private static abstract class WorkerRunnable<Params, Result> implements Callable<Result> {        Params[] mParams;    }    @SuppressWarnings({"RawUseOfParameterizedType"})    private static class AsyncTaskResult<Data> {        final AsyncTask mTask;        final Data[] mData;        AsyncTaskResult(AsyncTask task, Data... data) {            mTask = task;            mData = data;        }    }}

My intense tasks are loosely coupled and the execution order does not matter, by doing this way, a single thread is allocated to run a list of intense tasks.

AsyncTask presently uses a thread pool with several threads. In the future, it may be restricted to a single thread -- Google has hinted that this will be the case.

wonder if there is a workaround that I can achieve the same behavior under API level 11.

The default behavior is the behavior you want. If you examine the source code to AsyncTask, you will see that as of Gingerbread, it used a thread pool with a minimum of 5 threads and a maximum of 128.

Now, bear in mind that the vast majority of Android devices in use today are single-core. Hence, unless your "intense tasks" are intensely not doing much but blocking on network I/O, you do not want to be doing them in parallel, as context switches between threads will simply slow you down further.