Fixed #853.

1 files changed, 21 insertions, 3 deletions

diff --git a/src/library/scala/concurrent/ops.scala b/src/library/scala/concurrent/ops.scala
index 3bb0fb9857..25d1ad8f6b 100644
--- a/src/library/scala/concurrent/ops.scala
+++ b/src/library/scala/concurrent/ops.scala
@@ -32,12 +32,30 @@ object ops {
     }
   }
 
-  /**
-   *  @param p ...
+  /** Creates and starts a new thread that executes
+   *  a given expression.
+   *
+   *  @param  p the expression to execute.
+   *  @return   the new thread.
    */
-  def spawn(p: => Unit) = {
+  def spawn(p: => Unit): Thread = {
     val t = new Thread() { override def run() = p }
     t.start()
+    t
+  }
+
+  /** Creates and starts a new thread that
+   *  has the specified <code>name</code> as its name,
+   *  and executes a given expression.
+   *
+   *  @param  name the name of the new thread.
+   *  @param  p    the expression to execute.
+   *  @return      the new thread.
+   */
+  def spawn(name: String)(p: => Unit): Thread = {
+    val t = new Thread(name) { override def run() = p }
+    t.start()
+    t
   }
 
   /**