Introduce ThreadDeathWatcher

Motivation:

PooledByteBufAllocator's thread local cache and
ReferenceCountUtil.releaseLater() are in need of a way to run an
arbitrary logic when a certain thread is terminated.

Modifications:

- Add ThreadDeathWatcher, which spawns a low-priority daemon thread
  that watches a list of threads periodically (every second) and
  invokes the specified tasks when the associated threads are not alive
  anymore
  - Start-stop logic based on CAS operation proposed by @tea-dragon
- Add debug-level log messages to see if ThreadDeathWatcher works

Result:

- Fixes #2519 because we don't use GlobalEventExecutor anymore
- Cleaner code

buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/PoolThreadCache.java

@@ -192,29 +192,32 @@ final class PoolThreadCache {
     /**
      *  Should be called if the Thread that uses this cache is about to exist to release resources out of the cache
      */
-    void free() {
+    int free() {
-        free(tinySubPageDirectCaches);
+        return free(tinySubPageDirectCaches) +
-        free(smallSubPageDirectCaches);
+                free(smallSubPageDirectCaches) +
-        free(normalDirectCaches);
+                free(normalDirectCaches) +
-        free(tinySubPageHeapCaches);
+                free(tinySubPageHeapCaches) +
-        free(smallSubPageHeapCaches);
+                free(smallSubPageHeapCaches) +
-        free(normalHeapCaches);
+                free(normalHeapCaches);
     }
 
-    private static void free(MemoryRegionCache<?>[] caches) {
+    private static int free(MemoryRegionCache<?>[] caches) {
         if (caches == null) {
-            return;
+            return 0;
         }
+
+        int numFreed = 0;
         for (int i = 0; i < caches.length; i++) {
-            free(caches[i]);
+            numFreed += free(caches[i]);
         }
+        return numFreed;
     }
 
-    private static void free(MemoryRegionCache<?> cache) {
+    private static int free(MemoryRegionCache<?> cache) {
         if (cache == null) {
-            return;
+            return 0;
         }
-        cache.free();
+        return cache.free();
     }
 
     void trim() {
@@ -384,13 +387,16 @@ final class PoolThreadCache {
         /**
          * Clear out this cache and free up all previous cached {@link PoolChunk}s and {@code handle}s.
          */
-        public void free() {
+        public int free() {
+            int numFreed = 0;
             entriesInUse = 0;
             maxEntriesInUse = 0;
             for (int i = head;; i = nextIdx(i)) {
-                if (!freeEntry(entries[i])) {
+                if (freeEntry(entries[i])) {
+                    numFreed++;
+                } else {
                     // all cleared
-                    return;
+                    return numFreed;
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -440,7 +446,7 @@ final class PoolThreadCache {
 
         private int nextIdx(int index) {
             // use bitwise operation as this is faster as using modulo.
-            return (index + 1) & entries.length - 1;
+            return index + 1 & entries.length - 1;
         }
 
         private static final class Entry<T> {

buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/PooledByteBufAllocator.java

@@ -16,18 +16,13 @@
 
 package io.netty.buffer;
 
-import io.netty.util.concurrent.GlobalEventExecutor;
+import io.netty.util.ThreadDeathWatcher;
-import io.netty.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
 import io.netty.util.internal.PlatformDependent;
 import io.netty.util.internal.SystemPropertyUtil;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLogger;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLoggerFactory;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
-import java.util.IdentityHashMap;
-import java.util.Iterator;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 
 public class PooledByteBufAllocator extends AbstractByteBufAllocator {
@@ -44,7 +39,6 @@ public class PooledByteBufAllocator extends AbstractByteBufAllocator {
     private static final int DEFAULT_NORMAL_CACHE_SIZE;
     private static final int DEFAULT_MAX_CACHED_BUFFER_CAPACITY;
     private static final int DEFAULT_CACHE_TRIM_INTERVAL;
-    private static final long DEFAULT_CACHE_CLEANUP_INTERVAL;
 
     private static final int MIN_PAGE_SIZE = 4096;
     private static final int MAX_CHUNK_SIZE = (int) (((long) Integer.MAX_VALUE + 1) / 2);
@@ -101,9 +95,6 @@ public class PooledByteBufAllocator extends AbstractByteBufAllocator {
         DEFAULT_CACHE_TRIM_INTERVAL = SystemPropertyUtil.getInt(
                 "io.netty.allocator.cacheTrimInterval", 8192);
 
-        // the default interval at which we check for caches that are assigned to Threads that are not alive anymore
-        DEFAULT_CACHE_CLEANUP_INTERVAL = SystemPropertyUtil.getLong(
-                "io.netty.allocator.cacheCleanupInterval", 5000);
         if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
             logger.debug("-Dio.netty.allocator.numHeapArenas: {}", DEFAULT_NUM_HEAP_ARENA);
             logger.debug("-Dio.netty.allocator.numDirectArenas: {}", DEFAULT_NUM_DIRECT_ARENA);
@@ -122,10 +113,7 @@ public class PooledByteBufAllocator extends AbstractByteBufAllocator {
             logger.debug("-Dio.netty.allocator.smallCacheSize: {}", DEFAULT_SMALL_CACHE_SIZE);
             logger.debug("-Dio.netty.allocator.normalCacheSize: {}", DEFAULT_NORMAL_CACHE_SIZE);
             logger.debug("-Dio.netty.allocator.maxCachedBufferCapacity: {}", DEFAULT_MAX_CACHED_BUFFER_CAPACITY);
-            logger.debug("-Dio.netty.allocator.cacheTrimInterval: {}",
+            logger.debug("-Dio.netty.allocator.cacheTrimInterval: {}", DEFAULT_CACHE_TRIM_INTERVAL);
-                    DEFAULT_CACHE_TRIM_INTERVAL);
-            logger.debug("-Dio.netty.allocator.cacheCleanupInterval: {} ms",
-                    DEFAULT_CACHE_CLEANUP_INTERVAL);
         }
     }
 
@@ -159,15 +147,8 @@ public class PooledByteBufAllocator extends AbstractByteBufAllocator {
 
     public PooledByteBufAllocator(boolean preferDirect, int nHeapArena, int nDirectArena, int pageSize, int maxOrder,
                                   int tinyCacheSize, int smallCacheSize, int normalCacheSize) {
-        this(preferDirect, nHeapArena, nDirectArena, pageSize, maxOrder, tinyCacheSize, smallCacheSize,
-                normalCacheSize, DEFAULT_CACHE_CLEANUP_INTERVAL);
-    }
-
-    public PooledByteBufAllocator(boolean preferDirect, int nHeapArena, int nDirectArena, int pageSize, int maxOrder,
-                                  int tinyCacheSize, int smallCacheSize, int normalCacheSize,
-                                  long cacheThreadAliveCheckInterval) {
         super(preferDirect);
-        threadCache = new PoolThreadLocalCache(cacheThreadAliveCheckInterval);
+        threadCache = new PoolThreadLocalCache();
         this.tinyCacheSize = tinyCacheSize;
         this.smallCacheSize = smallCacheSize;
         this.normalCacheSize = normalCacheSize;
@@ -201,6 +182,15 @@ public class PooledByteBufAllocator extends AbstractByteBufAllocator {
         }
     }
 
+    @Deprecated
+    @SuppressWarnings("UnusedParameters")
+    public PooledByteBufAllocator(boolean preferDirect, int nHeapArena, int nDirectArena, int pageSize, int maxOrder,
+                                  int tinyCacheSize, int smallCacheSize, int normalCacheSize,
+                                  long cacheThreadAliveCheckInterval) {
+        this(preferDirect, nHeapArena, nDirectArena, pageSize, maxOrder,
+                tinyCacheSize, smallCacheSize, normalCacheSize);
+    }
+
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     private static <T> PoolArena<T>[] newArenaArray(int size) {
         return new PoolArena[size];
@@ -293,77 +283,55 @@ public class PooledByteBufAllocator extends AbstractByteBufAllocator {
     }
 
     final class PoolThreadLocalCache extends ThreadLocal<PoolThreadCache> {
-        private final Map<Thread, PoolThreadCache> caches = new IdentityHashMap<Thread, PoolThreadCache>();
-        private final ReleaseCacheTask task = new ReleaseCacheTask();
         private final AtomicInteger index = new AtomicInteger();
-        private final long cacheThreadAliveCheckInterval;
+        private boolean initialized;
-
-        PoolThreadLocalCache(long cacheThreadAliveCheckInterval) {
-            this.cacheThreadAliveCheckInterval = cacheThreadAliveCheckInterval;
-        }
 
         @Override
-        public PoolThreadCache get() {
+        protected PoolThreadCache initialValue() {
-            PoolThreadCache cache = super.get();
+            final int idx = index.getAndIncrement();
-            if (cache == null) {
+            final PoolArena<byte[]> heapArena;
-                final int idx = index.getAndIncrement();
+            final PoolArena<ByteBuffer> directArena;
-                final PoolArena<byte[]> heapArena;
-                final PoolArena<ByteBuffer> directArena;
 
-                if (heapArenas != null) {
+            if (heapArenas != null) {
-                    heapArena = heapArenas[Math.abs(idx % heapArenas.length)];
+                heapArena = heapArenas[Math.abs(idx % heapArenas.length)];
-                } else {
+            } else {
-                    heapArena = null;
+                heapArena = null;
-                }
-
-                if (directArenas != null) {
-                    directArena = directArenas[Math.abs(idx % directArenas.length)];
-                } else {
-                    directArena = null;
-                }
-                // If the current Thread is assigned to an EventExecutor we can
-                // easily free the cached stuff again once the EventExecutor completes later.
-                cache = new PoolThreadCache(
-                        heapArena, directArena, tinyCacheSize, smallCacheSize, normalCacheSize,
-                        DEFAULT_MAX_CACHED_BUFFER_CAPACITY, DEFAULT_CACHE_TRIM_INTERVAL);
-                set(cache);
             }
+
+            if (directArenas != null) {
+                directArena = directArenas[Math.abs(idx % directArenas.length)];
+            } else {
+                directArena = null;
+            }
+
+            final PoolThreadCache cache = new PoolThreadCache(
+                    heapArena, directArena, tinyCacheSize, smallCacheSize, normalCacheSize,
+                    DEFAULT_MAX_CACHED_BUFFER_CAPACITY, DEFAULT_CACHE_TRIM_INTERVAL);
+
+            // The thread-local cache will keep a list of pooled buffers which must be returned to
+            // the pool when the thread is not alive anymore.
+            final Thread thread = Thread.currentThread();
+            ThreadDeathWatcher.watch(thread, new Runnable() {
+                @Override
+                public void run() {
+                    int numFreed = cache.free();
+                    if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
+                        logger.debug("Freed {} thread-local buffer(s) from thread: {}", numFreed, thread.getName());
+                    }
+                }
+            });
+
+            initialized = true;
             return cache;
         }
 
-        @Override
-        public void set(PoolThreadCache value) {
-            Thread current = Thread.currentThread();
-            synchronized (caches) {
-                caches.put(current, value);
-                if (task.releaseTaskFuture == null) {
-                    task.releaseTaskFuture = GlobalEventExecutor.INSTANCE.scheduleWithFixedDelay(task,
-                            cacheThreadAliveCheckInterval, cacheThreadAliveCheckInterval, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
-                }
-            }
-            super.set(value);
-        }
-
-        @Override
-        public void remove() {
-            super.remove();
-            PoolThreadCache cache;
-            Thread current = Thread.currentThread();
-            synchronized (caches) {
-                cache = caches.remove(current);
-            }
-            if (cache != null) {
-                cache.free();
-            }
-        }
-
         /**
          * Returns {@code true} if the calling {@link Thread} has a {@link ThreadLocal} cache for the allocated
          * buffers.
          */
         @Deprecated
         public boolean exists() {
-            return super.get() != null;
+            return initialized;
         }
 
         /**
@@ -371,39 +339,11 @@ public class PooledByteBufAllocator extends AbstractByteBufAllocator {
          */
         @Deprecated
         public void free() {
-            PoolThreadCache cache = super.get();
+            if (exists()) {
-            if (cache != null) {
+                PoolThreadCache cache = get();
                 cache.free();
             }
         }
-
-        private final class ReleaseCacheTask implements Runnable {
-            private ScheduledFuture<?> releaseTaskFuture;
-
-            @Override
-            public void run() {
-                synchronized (caches) {
-                    for (Iterator<Map.Entry<Thread, PoolThreadCache>> i = caches.entrySet().iterator();
-                         i.hasNext();) {
-                        Map.Entry<Thread, PoolThreadCache> cache = i.next();
-                        if (cache.getKey().isAlive()) {
-                            // Thread is still alive...
-                            continue;
-                        }
-                        cache.getValue().free();
-                        i.remove();
-                    }
-                    if (caches.isEmpty()) {
-                        // Nothing in the caches anymore so no need to continue to check if something needs to be
-                        // released periodically. The task will be rescheduled if there is any need later.
-                        if (releaseTaskFuture != null) {
-                            releaseTaskFuture.cancel(true);
-                            releaseTaskFuture = null;
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        }
     }
 
 //    Too noisy at the moment.

common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ReferenceCountUtil.java

@@ -15,19 +15,10 @@
  */
 package io.netty.util;
 
-import io.netty.util.concurrent.GlobalEventExecutor;
-import io.netty.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
 import io.netty.util.internal.StringUtil;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLogger;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLoggerFactory;
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.IdentityHashMap;
-import java.util.Iterator;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
-
 /**
  * Collection of method to handle objects that may implement {@link ReferenceCounted}.
  */
@@ -81,8 +72,6 @@ public final class ReferenceCountUtil {
         return false;
     }
 
-    private static final Map<Thread, List<Entry>> pendingReleases = new IdentityHashMap<Thread, List<Entry>>();
-
     /**
      * Schedules the specified object to be released when the caller thread terminates. Note that this operation is
      * intended to simplify reference counting of ephemeral objects during unit tests. Do not use it beyond the
@@ -99,82 +88,40 @@ public final class ReferenceCountUtil {
      */
     public static <T> T releaseLater(T msg, int decrement) {
         if (msg instanceof ReferenceCounted) {
-            synchronized (pendingReleases) {
+            ThreadDeathWatcher.watch(Thread.currentThread(), new ReleasingTask((ReferenceCounted) msg, decrement));
-                Thread thread = Thread.currentThread();
-                List<Entry> entries = pendingReleases.get(thread);
-                if (entries == null) {
-                    // Start the periodic releasing task (if not started yet.)
-                    if (pendingReleases.isEmpty()) {
-                        ReleasingTask task = new ReleasingTask();
-                        task.future = GlobalEventExecutor.INSTANCE.scheduleWithFixedDelay(task, 1, 1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
-                    }
-
-                    // Create a new entry.
-                    entries = new ArrayList<Entry>();
-                    pendingReleases.put(thread, entries);
-                }
-
-                entries.add(new Entry((ReferenceCounted) msg, decrement));
-            }
         }
         return msg;
     }
 
-    private static final class Entry {
-        final ReferenceCounted obj;
-        final int decrement;
-
-        Entry(ReferenceCounted obj, int decrement) {
-            this.obj = obj;
-            this.decrement = decrement;
-        }
-
-        public String toString() {
-            return StringUtil.simpleClassName(obj) + ".release(" + decrement + ") refCnt: " + obj.refCnt();
-        }
-    }
-
     /**
      * Releases the objects when the thread that called {@link #releaseLater(Object)} has been terminated.
      */
     private static final class ReleasingTask implements Runnable {
-        volatile ScheduledFuture<?> future;
+
+        private final ReferenceCounted obj;
+        private final int decrement;
+
+        ReleasingTask(ReferenceCounted obj, int decrement) {
+            this.obj = obj;
+            this.decrement = decrement;
+        }
 
         @Override
         public void run() {
-            synchronized (pendingReleases) {
+            try {
-                for (Iterator<Map.Entry<Thread, List<Entry>>> i = pendingReleases.entrySet().iterator();
+                if (!obj.release(decrement)) {
-                     i.hasNext();) {
+                    logger.warn("Non-zero refCnt: {}", this);
-
+                } else {
-                    Map.Entry<Thread, List<Entry>> e = i.next();
+                    logger.debug("Released: {}", this);
-                    if (e.getKey().isAlive()) {
-                        continue;
-                    }
-
-                    releaseAll(e.getValue());
-
-                    // Remove from the map since the thread is not alive anymore.
-                    i.remove();
-                }
-
-                if (pendingReleases.isEmpty()) {
-                    future.cancel(false);
                 }
+            } catch (Exception ex) {
+                logger.warn("Failed to release an object: {}", obj, ex);
             }
         }
 
-        private static void releaseAll(Iterable<Entry> entries) {
+        @Override
-            for (Entry e: entries) {
+        public String toString() {
-                try {
+            return StringUtil.simpleClassName(obj) + ".release(" + decrement + ") refCnt: " + obj.refCnt();
-                    if (!e.obj.release(e.decrement)) {
-                        logger.warn("Non-zero refCnt: {}", e);
-                    } else {
-                        logger.warn("Released: {}", e);
-                    }
-                } catch (Exception ex) {
-                    logger.warn("Failed to release an object: {}", e.obj, ex);
-                }
-            }
         }
     }
 

common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ThreadDeathWatcher.java

@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 The Netty Project
+ *
+ * The Netty Project licenses this file to you 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.
+ */
+
+package io.netty.util;
+
+import io.netty.util.concurrent.DefaultThreadFactory;
+import io.netty.util.internal.MpscLinkedQueue;
+import io.netty.util.internal.PlatformDependent;
+import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLogger;
+import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLoggerFactory;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Queue;
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+
+/**
+ * Checks if a thread is alive periodically and runs a task when a thread dies.
+ * <p>
+ * This thread starts a daemon thread to check the state of the threads being watched and to invoke their
+ * associated {@link Runnable}s.  When there is no thread to watch (i.e. all threads are dead), the daemon thread
+ * will terminate itself, and a new daemon thread will be started again when a new watch is added.
+ * </p>
+ */
+public final class ThreadDeathWatcher {
+
+    private static final InternalLogger logger = InternalLoggerFactory.getInstance(ThreadDeathWatcher.class);
+    private static final ThreadFactory threadFactory =
+            new DefaultThreadFactory(ThreadDeathWatcher.class, true, Thread.MIN_PRIORITY);
+
+    private static final Queue<Entry> pendingEntries = PlatformDependent.newMpscQueue();
+    private static final Watcher watcher = new Watcher();
+    private static final AtomicBoolean started = new AtomicBoolean();
+
+    /**
+     * Schedules the specified {@code task} to run when the specified {@code thread} dies.
+     *
+     * @param thread the {@link Thread} to watch
+     * @param task the {@link Runnable} to run when the {@code thread} dies
+     *
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the specified {@code thread} is not alive
+     */
+    public static void watch(Thread thread, Runnable task) {
+        if (thread == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("thread");
+        }
+        if (task == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("task");
+        }
+        if (!thread.isAlive()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("thread must be alive.");
+        }
+
+        pendingEntries.add(new Entry(thread, task));
+
+        if (started.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
+            Thread watcherThread = threadFactory.newThread(watcher);
+            watcherThread.start();
+        }
+    }
+
+    private ThreadDeathWatcher() { }
+
+    private static final class Watcher implements Runnable {
+
+        private final List<Entry> watchees = new ArrayList<Entry>();
+
+        @Override
+        public void run() {
+            for (;;) {
+                fetchWatchees();
+                notifyWatchees();
+
+                try {
+                    Thread.sleep(1000);
+                } catch (InterruptedException ignore) {
+                    // Ignore the interrupt; do not terminate until all tasks are run.
+                }
+
+                if (watchees.isEmpty() && pendingEntries.isEmpty()) {
+
+                    // Mark the current worker thread as stopped.
+                    // The following CAS must always success and must be uncontended,
+                    // because only one watcher thread should be running at the same time.
+                    boolean stopped = started.compareAndSet(true, false);
+                    assert stopped;
+
+                    // Check if there are pending entries added by watch() while we do CAS above.
+                    if (pendingEntries.isEmpty()) {
+                        // A) watch() was not invoked and thus there's nothing to handle
+                        //    -> safe to terminate because there's nothing left to do
+                        // B) a new watcher thread started and handled them all
+                        //    -> safe to terminate the new watcher thread will take care the rest
+                        break;
+                    }
+
+                    // There are pending entries again, added by watch()
+                    if (!started.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
+                        // watch() started a new watcher thread and set 'started' to true.
+                        // -> terminate this thread so that the new watcher reads from pendingEntries exclusively.
+                        break;
+                    }
+
+                    // watch() added an entry, but this worker was faster to set 'started' to true.
+                    // i.e. a new watcher thread was not started
+                    // -> keep this thread alive to handle the newly added entries.
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void fetchWatchees() {
+            for (;;) {
+                Entry e = pendingEntries.poll();
+                if (e == null) {
+                    break;
+                }
+
+                watchees.add(e);
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void notifyWatchees() {
+            List<Entry> watchees = this.watchees;
+            for (int i = 0; i < watchees.size();) {
+                Entry e = watchees.get(i);
+                if (!e.thread.isAlive()) {
+                    watchees.remove(i);
+                    try {
+                        e.task.run();
+                    } catch (Throwable t) {
+                        logger.warn("Thread death watcher task raised an exception:", t);
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    i ++;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static final class Entry extends MpscLinkedQueue.Node<Entry> {
+        final Thread thread;
+        final Runnable task;
+
+        Entry(Thread thread, Runnable task) {
+            this.thread = thread;
+            this.task = task;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Entry value() {
+            return this;
+        }
+    }
+}

common/src/test/java/io/netty/util/ThreadDeathWatcherTest.java

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 The Netty Project
+ *
+ * The Netty Project licenses this file to you 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.
+ */
+
+package io.netty.util;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.*;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+public class ThreadDeathWatcherTest {
+
+    @Test(timeout = 10000)
+    public void testSimple() throws Exception {
+        final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        final Thread t = new Thread() {
+            @Override
+            public void run() {
+                for (;;) {
+                    try {
+                        Thread.sleep(1000);
+                    } catch (InterruptedException ignore) {
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        };
+
+        final Runnable task = new Runnable() {
+            @Override
+            public void run() {
+                if (!t.isAlive()) {
+                    latch.countDown();
+                }
+            }
+        };
+
+        try {
+            ThreadDeathWatcher.watch(t, task);
+            fail("must reject to watch a non-alive thread.");
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            // expected
+        }
+
+        t.start();
+        ThreadDeathWatcher.watch(t, task);
+
+        // As long as the thread is alive, the task should not run.
+        assertThat(latch.await(750, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS), is(false));
+
+        // Interrupt the thread to terminate it.
+        t.interrupt();
+
+        // The task must be run on termination.
+        latch.await();
+    }
+}