JAX-RS Endpoint triggering server-side actions

Question

I have a lightweight Java application exposing a web service through Jersey/Grizzly. It's fairly simple as it just sends back JSON content:

@GET
public Response status() {
    CacheControl cc = new CacheControl();
    cc.setMaxAge(CLIENT_EXPIRY);
    cc.setPrivate(true);

    ResponseBuilder builder = Response.ok(someJsonString, MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON);
    builder.cacheControl(cc);
    return builder.build();
}

I would like to perform server-side operations when and only when a client requests this response, but without delaying the response itself.

These other methods will not influence the response, but will use up server resources, and take a significant time. That would make the end user experience less enjoyable if I simply pasted the call in the middle of response building.

What would be a good way to monitor the endpoint activity and trigger a server-side treatment without delaying the response?

Answer 1

Start a new thread that will do the work, and then return the response to the client. Consider using a thread pull, not to exhaust your server's resources. This way the client will not wait for response and the task will be executed.