ThreadLocal原理（源码）

先说结论：
ThreadLocal本身并不是，也不会存储thread-local变量，而是操作thread-local变量的工具。
真正的thread-local变量是存储在Thread里的ThreadLocalMap（ThreadLocal的静态内部类）的对象，
而且ThreadLocalMap的对象中的ThreadLocalMap.Entry[] table的元素中还存储了ThreadLocal的信息。详情可以看源码。

ThreadLocal部分源码：

    /**
     * Returns the value in the current thread's copy of this
     * thread-local variable.  If the variable has no value for the
     * current thread, it is first initialized to the value returned
     * by an invocation of the {@link #initialValue} method.
     *
     * @return the current thread's value of this thread-local
     */
    public T get() {
        //获取当前线程
        Thread t = Thread.currentThread();
        //获取当前线程中的ThreadLocalMap变量
        ThreadLocalMap map = getMap(t);
        if (map != null) {
            //根据当前的ThreadLocal对象，获取ThreadLocalMap.Entry，进而获取其中的值
            ThreadLocalMap.Entry e = map.getEntry(this);
            if (e != null) {
                @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
                T result = (T)e.value;
                return result;
            }
        }
        return setInitialValue();
    }

    /**
     * Variant of set() to establish initialValue. Used instead
     * of set() in case user has overridden the set() method.
     *
     * @return the initial value
     */
    private T setInitialValue() {
        T value = initialValue();
        Thread t = Thread.currentThread();
        ThreadLocalMap map = getMap(t);
        if (map != null)
            map.set(this, value);
        else
            createMap(t, value);
        return value;
    }

    /**
     * Sets the current thread's copy of this thread-local variable
     * to the specified value.  Most subclasses will have no need to
     * override this method, relying solely on the {@link #initialValue}
     * method to set the values of thread-locals.
     *
     * @param value the value to be stored in the current thread's copy of
     *        this thread-local.
     */
    public void set(T value) {
        Thread t = Thread.currentThread();
        ThreadLocalMap map = getMap(t);
        if (map != null)
            map.set(this, value);
        else
            createMap(t, value);
    }


    /**
     * Get the map associated with a ThreadLocal. Overridden in
     * InheritableThreadLocal.
     *
     * @param  t the current thread
     * @return the map
     */
    ThreadLocalMap getMap(Thread t) {
        return t.threadLocals;
    }

ThreadLocalMap是ThreadLocal的静态内部类，其中部分源码：

        /**
         * The entries in this hash map extend WeakReference, using
         * its main ref field as the key (which is always a
         * ThreadLocal object).  Note that null keys (i.e. entry.get()
         * == null) mean that the key is no longer referenced, so the
         * entry can be expunged from table.  Such entries are referred to
         * as "stale entries" in the code that follows.
         */
        static class Entry extends WeakReference> {
            /** The value associated with this ThreadLocal. */
            Object value;

            Entry(ThreadLocal k, Object v) {
                super(k);
                value = v;
            }
        }

        /**
         * The table, resized as necessary.
         * table.length MUST always be a power of two.
         */
        private Entry[] table;


        /**
         * Get the entry associated with key.  This method
         * itself handles only the fast path: a direct hit of existing
         * key. It otherwise relays to getEntryAfterMiss.  This is
         * designed to maximize performance for direct hits, in part
         * by making this method readily inlinable.
         *
         * @param  key the thread local object
         * @return the entry associated with key, or null if no such
         */
        private Entry getEntry(ThreadLocal key) {
            //根据ThreadLocal的threadLocalHashCode确定存储位置
            int i = key.threadLocalHashCode & (table.length - 1);
            Entry e = table[i];
            if (e != null && e.get() == key)
                return e;
            else
                return getEntryAfterMiss(key, i, e);
        }

        /**
         * Set the value associated with key.
         *
         * @param key the thread local object
         * @param value the value to be set
         */
        private void set(ThreadLocal key, Object value) {

            // We don't use a fast path as with get() because it is at
            // least as common to use set() to create new entries as
            // it is to replace existing ones, in which case, a fast
            // path would fail more often than not.

            Entry[] tab = table;
            int len = tab.length;
            int i = key.threadLocalHashCode & (len-1);

            for (Entry e = tab[i];
                 e != null;
                 e = tab[i = nextIndex(i, len)]) {
                ThreadLocal k = e.get();
                //更新
                if (k == key) {
                    e.value = value;
                    return;
                }
                //添加
                if (k == null) {
                    replaceStaleEntry(key, value, i);
                    return;
                }
            }

            tab[i] = new Entry(key, value);
            int sz = ++size;
            if (!cleanSomeSlots(i, sz) && sz >= threshold)
                rehash();
        }

Thread部分源码：

/* ThreadLocal values pertaining to this thread. This map is maintained
     * by the ThreadLocal class. */
    ThreadLocal.ThreadLocalMap threadLocals = null;