Multithreading in Java A thread can be in one of the five states. According to sun, there is only 4 states in thread life cycle in java new, runnable, non-runnable and terminated. There is no running state. But for better understanding the threads, we are explaining it in the 5 states. The life cycle of the thread in java is controlled by JVM. The java thread states are as follows: New Runnable Running Non-Runnable (Blocked) Terminated 1) New The thread is in new state if you create an instance of Thread class but before the invocation of start() method.

2) Runnable

The thread is in runnable state after invocation of start() method, but the thread scheduler has not selected it to be the running thread.

3) Running

The thread is in running state if the thread scheduler has selected it.

4) Non-Runnable (Blocked)

This is the state when the thread is still alive, but is currently not eligible to run.

5) Terminated

A thread is in terminated or dead state when its run() method exits.