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Java 17: Unresponsive UI in JavaFX Application due to Threading Issues with Database Calls

👀 Views: 0 💬 Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-07-27
java javafx jdbc Java

Quick question that's been bugging me - I'm working on a project and hit a roadblock. I'm updating my dependencies and I've been banging my head against this for hours. I've searched everywhere and can't find a clear answer. I'm developing a JavaFX application that interacts with a PostgreSQL database using JDBC. I noticed that when I perform certain database operations, the UI becomes unresponsive and freezes for several seconds, which negatively affects the user experience. I'm using Java 17 with the following dependencies: ```xml <dependency> <groupId>org.postgresql</groupId> <artifactId>postgresql</artifactId> <version>42.3.1</version> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>org.openjfx</groupId> <artifactId>javafx-controls</artifactId> <version>17.0.1</version> </dependency> ``` I've encapsulated my database calls in a method like this: ```java public void fetchData() { try (Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(DB_URL, USER, PASS); Statement stmt = conn.createStatement()) { ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM my_table"); while (rs.next()) { // Process data } } catch (SQLException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } ``` To address the UI blocking issue, I attempted to run the `fetchData` method in a separate thread using `Task` from JavaFX: ```java Task<Void> task = new Task<Void>() { @Override protected Void call() throws Exception { fetchData(); return null; } }; new Thread(task).start(); ``` However, I'm still experiencing UI lags during data fetches, and I see no progress updates since I didn't manage to update the UI thread within the `Task`. When I tried using `Platform.runLater()` to update UI elements after fetching, it didn't help much either. I also experimented with adding a `pause` to simulate loading, but the lag remains when the dataset is large. I’ve looked into using `Service` for better task management but am unsure if it would solve the underlying issue. Is there a preferred design pattern or best practice to manage long-running database calls in JavaFX applications without freezing the UI? Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated! Is there a better approach? Has anyone else encountered this? I'm working with Java in a Docker container on Ubuntu 20.04. Is this even possible? This is for a microservice running on Ubuntu 20.04. I'd really appreciate any guidance on this. Has anyone else encountered this?