Android消息队列原理

本文章是对任玉刚前辈的《Android开发艺术》一书中的第10章“Android的消息机制”的简单理解，不足之处请多多指正。

Handler是Android机制的上层接口，它的运行要依靠MessQueue和Looper。Handler的使用想必大家都很了解，一般在开发中，我们会在子线程中执行耗时的操作，将操作的结果通过Handler发送给主线程，主线程用这个结果来执行UI的操作，这是我们最常见的用法，Android默认只有主线程才能更新UI，这是因为每次更新UI时都会做UI验证操作，Android在UI验证操作时首先会检查当前线程是否为主线程，如果不是就会报出异常，那为什么Android要规定只有主线程才能操作UI呢？这是因为Android的UI控件并不是线程安全的，在高并发状态下当有多个线程访问一个UI时就会出错，加锁又会让UI效率变慢。MessageQueue是消息队列，它以队列的形式对外提供插入和删除消息的工作，但其本身的数据结构并不是一个队列而是一个单向链表。Looper可以理解为消息循环处理器，它会以无限循环的方式去查找MessageQueue中的消息，如果没有消息就会一直等待。Android消息队列的Handler、MessageQueue、Looper作为一个整体，不可分割，那么接下来就对这几个模板分开探索一下。

MessageQueue

MessageQueue即消息队列，主要包含插入(enqueueMessage方法)和读取(next方法)，读取一条消息的同时也会把这条消息从队列中删除，消息队列由单链表实现，因为单链表对插入和删除操作有很好的优势。

enqueueMessage方法

    boolean enqueueMessage(Message msg, long when) {
        if (msg.target == null) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Message must have a target.");
        }
        synchronized (this) {
            if (msg.isInUse()) {
                throw new IllegalStateException(msg + " This message is already in use.");
            }

            if (mQuitting) {
                IllegalStateException e = new IllegalStateException(
                        msg.target + " sending message to a Handler on a dead thread");
                Log.w(TAG, e.getMessage(), e);
                msg.recycle();
                return false;
            }
            msg.markInUse();
            msg.when = when;
            Message p = mMessages;
            boolean needWake;
            if (p == null || when == 0 || when < p.when) {
                // New head, wake up the event queue if blocked.
                msg.next = p;
                mMessages = msg;
                needWake = mBlocked;
            } else {
                // Inserted within the middle of the queue.  Usually we don't have to wake
                // up the event queue unless there is a barrier at the head of the queue
                // and the message is the earliest asynchronous message in the queue.
                needWake = mBlocked && p.target == null && msg.isAsynchronous();
                Message prev;
                for (;;) {          
                    prev = p;
                    p = p.next;
                    if (p == null || when < p.when) {
                        break;
                    }
                    if (needWake && p.isAsynchronous()) {
                        needWake = false;
                    }
                }
                msg.next = p; // invariant: p == prev.next
                prev.next = msg;
            }
            // We can assume mPtr != 0 because mQuitting is false.
            if (needWake) {
                nativeWake(mPtr);
            }
        }
        return true;
    }
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当新消息到来时，将消息插入链表中。

next方法

    Message next() {
        // Return here if the message loop has already quit and been disposed.
        // This can happen if the application tries to restart a looper after quit
        // which is not supported.
        final long ptr = mPtr;
        if (ptr == 0) {
            return null;
        }
        int pendingIdleHandlerCount = -1; // -1 only during first iteration
        int nextPollTimeoutMillis = 0;
        for (;;) {
            if (nextPollTimeoutMillis != 0) {
                Binder.flushPendingCommands();
            }

            nativePollOnce(ptr, nextPollTimeoutMillis);
            synchronized (this) {
                // Try to retrieve the next message.  Return if found.
                final long now = SystemClock.uptimeMillis();
                Message prevMsg = null;
                Message msg = mMessages;
                if (msg != null && msg.target == null) {
                    // Stalled by a barrier.  Find the next asynchronous message in the queue.
                    do {
                        prevMsg = msg;
                        msg = msg.next;
                    } while (msg != null && !msg.isAsynchronous());
                }
                if (msg != null) {
                    if (now < msg.when) {
                        // Next message is not ready.  Set a timeout to wake up when it is ready.
                        nextPollTimeoutMillis = (int) Math.min(msg.when - now, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
                    } else {
                        // Got a message.
                        mBlocked = false;
                        if (prevMsg != null) {
                            prevMsg.next = msg.next;
                        } else {
                            mMessages = msg.next;
                        }
                        msg.next = null;
                        if (DEBUG) Log.v(TAG, "Returning message: " + msg);
                        msg.markInUse();
                        return msg;
                    }
                } else {
                    // No more messages.
                    nextPollTimeoutMillis = -1;
                }

                // Process the quit message now that all pending messages have been handled.
                if (mQuitting) {
                    dispose();
                    return null;
                }
                // If first time idle, then get the number of idlers to run.
                // Idle handles only run if the queue is empty or if the first message
                // in the queue (possibly a barrier) is due to be handled in the future.
                if (pendingIdleHandlerCount < 0
                        && (mMessages == null || now < mMessages.when)) {
                    pendingIdleHandlerCount = mIdleHandlers.size();
                }
                if (pendingIdleHandlerCount <= 0) {
                    // No idle handlers to run.  Loop and wait some more.
                    mBlocked = true;
                    continue;
                }
                if (mPendingIdleHandlers == null) {
                    mPendingIdleHandlers = new IdleHandler[Math.max(pendingIdleHandlerCount, 4)];
                }
                mPendingIdleHandlers = mIdleHandlers.toArray(mPendingIdleHandlers);
            }

            // Run the idle handlers.
            // We only ever reach this code block during the first iteration.
            for (int i = 0; i < pendingIdleHandlerCount; i++) {
                final IdleHandler idler = mPendingIdleHandlers[i];
                mPendingIdleHandlers[i] = null; // release the reference to the handler
                boolean keep = false;
                try {
                    keep = idler.queueIdle();
                } catch (Throwable t) {
                    Log.wtf(TAG, "IdleHandler threw exception", t);
                }

                if (!keep) {
                    synchronized (this) {
                        mIdleHandlers.remove(idler);
                    }
                }
            }                
            // Reset the idle handler count to 0 so we do not run them again.
            pendingIdleHandlerCount = 0;

            // While calling an idle handler, a new message could have been delivered
            // so go back and look again for a pending message without waiting.
            nextPollTimeoutMillis = 0;
        }
    }
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next方法会一直阻塞，当有消息到来时，next方法会返回这条消息，并把这条消息从MessageQueue中删除。

Looper

Looper是一个消息循环处理器，在一个线程中，要打开一个Looper才能接收到其他线程发来的Message。在一个线程中，Looper本身是默认不存在的，只有子线程会初始化一个Looper，这就是为什么主线程可以默认使用Handler的原因了。
我们一般用Looper.prepare()方法给线程创建一个Looper，然后用Looper.loop()方法开启消息循环，当然Looper也可以退出，有quit()方法和quitSafely()方法，quit()方法会立即退出这个消息循环，而quitSafely()会将消息队列中的消息处理完再退出。子线程在开启消息循环处理完消息之后一定要退出，否则子线程会一直等待下去，消耗资源。

Looper.loop()方法

    public static void loop() {
        final Looper me = myLooper();
        if (me == null) {
            throw new RuntimeException("No Looper; Looper.prepare() wasn't called on this thread.");
        }
        if (me.mInLoop) {
            Slog.w(TAG, "Loop again would have the queued messages be executed"
                    + " before this one completed.");
        }

        me.mInLoop = true;
        final MessageQueue queue = me.mQueue;
        // Make sure the identity of this thread is that of the local process,
        // and keep track of what that identity token actually is.
        Binder.clearCallingIdentity();
        final long ident = Binder.clearCallingIdentity();

        // Allow overriding a threshold with a system prop. e.g.
        // adb shell 'setprop log.looper.1000.main.slow 1 && stop && start'
        final int thresholdOverride =
                SystemProperties.getInt("log.looper."
                        + Process.myUid() + "."
                        + Thread.currentThread().getName()
                        + ".slow", 0);

        boolean slowDeliveryDetected = false;
        for (;;) {
            Message msg = queue.next(); // might block
            if (msg == null) {
                // No message indicates that the message queue is quitting.
                return;
            }

            // This must be in a local variable, in case a UI event sets the logger
            final Printer logging = me.mLogging;
            if (logging != null) {
                logging.println(">>>>> Dispatching to " + msg.target + " " +
                        msg.callback + ": " + msg.what);
            }
            // Make sure the observer won't change while processing a transaction.
            final Observer observer = sObserver;
            final long traceTag = me.mTraceTag;
            long slowDispatchThresholdMs = me.mSlowDispatchThresholdMs;
            long slowDeliveryThresholdMs = me.mSlowDeliveryThresholdMs;
            if (thresholdOverride > 0) {
                slowDispatchThresholdMs = thresholdOverride;
                slowDeliveryThresholdMs = thresholdOverride;
            }
            final boolean logSlowDelivery = (slowDeliveryThresholdMs > 0) && (msg.when > 0);
            final boolean logSlowDispatch = (slowDispatchThresholdMs > 0);

            final boolean needStartTime = logSlowDelivery || logSlowDispatch;
            final boolean needEndTime = logSlowDispatch;

            if (traceTag != 0 && Trace.isTagEnabled(traceTag)) {
                Trace.traceBegin(traceTag, msg.target.getTraceName(msg));
            }
            final long dispatchStart = needStartTime ? SystemClock.uptimeMillis() : 0;
            final long dispatchEnd;
            Object token = null;
            if (observer != null) {
                token = observer.messageDispatchStarting();
            }
            long origWorkSource = ThreadLocalWorkSource.setUid(msg.workSourceUid);
            try {
                msg.target.dispatchMessage(msg);
                if (observer != null) {
                    observer.messageDispatched(token, msg);
                }
                dispatchEnd = needEndTime ? SystemClock.uptimeMillis() : 0;
            } catch (Exception exception) {
                if (observer != null) {
                    observer.dispatchingThrewException(token, msg, exception);
                }
                throw exception;
            } finally {
                ThreadLocalWorkSource.restore(origWorkSource);
                if (traceTag != 0) {
                    Trace.traceEnd(traceTag);
                }
            }
            if (logSlowDelivery) {
                if (slowDeliveryDetected) {
                    if ((dispatchStart - msg.when) <= 10) {
                        Slog.w(TAG, "Drained");
                        slowDeliveryDetected = false;
                    }
                } else {
                    if (showSlowLog(slowDeliveryThresholdMs, msg.when, dispatchStart, "delivery",
                            msg)) {
                        // Once we write a slow delivery log, suppress until the queue drains.
                        slowDeliveryDetected = true;
                    }
                }
            }
            if (logSlowDispatch) {
                showSlowLog(slowDispatchThresholdMs, dispatchStart, dispatchEnd, "dispatch", msg);
            }

            if (logging != null) {
                logging.println("<<<<< Finished to " + msg.target + " " + msg.callback);
            }

            // Make sure that during the course of dispatching the
            // identity of the thread wasn't corrupted.
            final long newIdent = Binder.clearCallingIdentity();
            if (ident != newIdent) {
                Log.wtf(TAG, "Thread identity changed from 0x"
                        + Long.toHexString(ident) + " to 0x"
                        + Long.toHexString(newIdent) + " while dispatching to "
                        + msg.target.getClass().getName() + " "
                        + msg.callback + " what=" + msg.what);
            }
            msg.recycleUnchecked();
        }
    }
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loop()方法是一个死循环，只有当消息队列next()方法返回null或者quit()方法被调用后才会跳出死循环，loop()会一直调用next()方法。

Handler

Handler的主要工作就是接收和发送消息，消息发送最终会使用send的一系列方法来实现，在平常使用中我们一般会使用sendMessage()方法发送Message，Handler会调用dispatchMessage()方法。

    public void dispatchMessage(@NonNull Message msg) {
        if (msg.callback != null) {
            handleCallback(msg);
        } else {
            if (mCallback != null) {
                if (mCallback.handleMessage(msg)) {
                    return;
                }
            }
            handleMessage(msg);
        }
    }
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最后重写handleMessage方法来接收消息。