让我们只讨论工作示例中的代码。我喜欢russ上面的回答，但为了消除我的疑虑，我稍微加强了一下。我运行了两次，一次工作线程设置为deamon true (deamon线程)，另一次设置为false(用户线程)。它确认守护线程在主线程结束时结束。

public class DeamonThreadTest {

public static void main(String[] args) {

    new WorkerThread(false).start();    //set it to true and false and run twice.

    try {
        Thread.sleep(7500);
    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
        // handle here exception
    }

    System.out.println("Main Thread ending");
    }
   }

   class WorkerThread extends Thread {

    boolean isDeamon;

    public WorkerThread(boolean isDeamon) {
        // When false, (i.e. when it's a user thread),
        // the Worker thread continues to run.
        // When true, (i.e. when it's a daemon thread),
        // the Worker thread terminates when the main
        // thread terminates.
        this.isDeamon = isDeamon;
        setDaemon(isDeamon);
    }

    public void run() {
        System.out.println("I am a " + (isDeamon ? "Deamon Thread" : "User Thread (none-deamon)"));

        int counter = 0;

        while (counter < 10) {
            counter++;
            System.out.println("\tworking from Worker thread " + counter++);

            try {
                sleep(5000);
            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                // handle exception here
            }
        }
        System.out.println("\tWorker thread ends. ");
    }
}



result when setDeamon(true)
=====================================
I am a Deamon Thread
    working from Worker thread 0
    working from Worker thread 1
Main Thread ending

Process finished with exit code 0


result when setDeamon(false)
=====================================
I am a User Thread (none-deamon)
    working from Worker thread 0
    working from Worker thread 1
Main Thread ending
    working from Worker thread 2
    working from Worker thread 3
    working from Worker thread 4
    working from Worker thread 5
    working from Worker thread 6
    working from Worker thread 7
    working from Worker thread 8
    working from Worker thread 9
    Worker thread ends. 

Process finished with exit code 0

以上答案都是好的。下面是一个简单的小代码片段，以说明两者的区别。在setDaemon中分别尝试true和false值。

public class DaemonTest {
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        new WorkerThread().start();

        try {
            Thread.sleep(7500);
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            // handle here exception
        }

        System.out.println("Main Thread ending") ;
    }

}

class WorkerThread extends Thread {
    
    public WorkerThread() {
        // When false, (i.e. when it's a non daemon thread),
        // the WorkerThread continues to run.
        // When true, (i.e. when it's a daemon thread),
        // the WorkerThread terminates when the main 
        // thread or/and user defined thread(non daemon) terminates.
        setDaemon(true); 
    }
    
    public void run() {
        int count = 0;

        while (true) {
            System.out.println("Hello from Worker "+count++);

            try {
                sleep(5000);
            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                // handle exception here
            }
        }
    }
}

守护线程就像一个服务提供者，为运行在与守护线程相同进程中的其他线程或对象提供服务。守护线程用于后台支持任务，只有在正常线程执行时才需要守护线程。如果正常线程不运行，其余线程是守护线程，则解释器退出。

例如，HotJava浏览器使用最多4个名为“Image Fetcher”的守护线程从文件系统或网络中为任何需要的线程获取图像。

守护线程通常用于为应用程序/applet执行服务(例如加载“fiddley bits”)。用户线程和守护线程之间的核心区别在于，JVM只会在所有用户线程都终止时关闭程序。当不再有任何用户线程在运行(包括执行主线程)时，守护线程将由JVM终止。

setDaemon(真/假)?此方法用于指定一个线程是守护线程。

公共boolean isDaemon() ?此方法用于确定线程是否是守护线程。

Eg:

public class DaemonThread extends Thread {
    public void run() {
        System.out.println("Entering run method");

        try {
            System.out.println("In run Method: currentThread() is" + Thread.currentThread());

            while (true) {
                try {
                    Thread.sleep(500);
                } catch (InterruptedException x) {}

                System.out.println("In run method: woke up again");
            }
        } finally {
            System.out.println("Leaving run Method");
        }
    }
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Entering main Method");

        DaemonThread t = new DaemonThread();
        t.setDaemon(true);
        t.start();

        try {
            Thread.sleep(3000);
        } catch (InterruptedException x) {}

        System.out.println("Leaving main method");
    }

}

输出:

C:\java\thread>javac DaemonThread.java

C:\java\thread>java DaemonThread
Entering main Method
Entering run method
In run Method: currentThread() isThread[Thread-0,5,main]
In run method: woke up again
In run method: woke up again
In run method: woke up again
In run method: woke up again
In run method: woke up again
In run method: woke up again
Leaving main method

C:\j2se6\thread>

守护线程类似于助手线程。非daemon线程就像前面的表演者。助手帮助表演者完成一项工作。工作完成后，执行者不再需要帮助来执行。由于不需要帮助，助手们离开了这个地方。因此，当非守护线程的任务结束时，守护线程就会离开。

Java守护线程

(守护进程)

Java使用用户线程和守护进程线程概念。

JVM流

1. If there are no `user treads` JVM starts terminating the program
2. JVM terminates all `daemon threads` automatically without waiting when they are done
3. JVM is shutdown

正如你所看到的，守护线程是用户线程的服务线程。

守护线程是低优先级线程。 线程从父线程继承它的属性。要从外部设置它，你可以在启动它之前使用setDaemon()方法或通过isDaemon()检查它

正如大家所解释的，守护线程不会限制JVM退出，所以基本上从退出的角度来看，它对应用程序来说是一个快乐的线程。

想要添加守护线程，当我提供一个API，比如将数据推送到第三方服务器/或JMS时，我可能需要在客户端JVM级别聚合数据，然后在一个单独的线程中发送到JMS。我可以使这个线程作为守护线程，如果这不是一个强制数据被推送到服务器。 这类数据类似于日志推送/聚合。

问候, Manish