Finishing a HttpServletResponse but continue processing

Question

I have a situation that seems to fit the Async Servlet 3.0 / Comet situation but all I need to do is return a 200 response code (or other) after accepting the incoming parameter

Answer 1

Here's how I've handled this situation:

1. When the app starts up, create an ExecutorService with Executors.newFixedThreadPool(numThreads) (there are other types of executors, but I suggest starting with this one)
2. In doPost(), create an instance of Runnable which will perform the desired processing - your task - and submit it to the ExecutorService like so: executor.execute(task)
3. Finally, you should return the HTTP Status 202 Accepted, and, if possible, a Location header indicating where a client will be able to check up on the status of the processing.

I highly recommend you read Java Concurrency in Practice, it's a fantastic and very practical book.