Can a lock be acquired on a class?

Yes, a lock can be acquired on a class. This lock is acquired on the class’s Class object. Yes, in Java, it is possible to acquire a lock on a class. In Java, every class and object has an associated lock, also known as a monitor. This lock is used to control access to the critical section … Read more

What is synchronization and why is it important?

With respect to multithreading, synchronization is the capability to control the access of multiple threads to shared resources. Without synchronization, it is possible for one thread to modify a shared object while another thread is in the process of using or updating that object’s value. This often leads to significant errors. In the context of … Read more

How are Observer and Observable used?

Objects that subclass the Observable class maintain a list of observers. When an Observable object is updated it invokes the update() method of each of its observers to notify the observers that it has changed state. The Observer interface is implemented by objects that observe Observable objects. In Java, the Observer and Observable classes were part of the java.util package to implement the … Read more

Why do threads block on I/O?

Threads block on I/O (that is enters the waiting state) so that other threads may execute while the I/O Operation is performed. Threads often block on I/O (Input/Output) operations in Java due to the nature of these operations. When a thread performs I/O, such as reading from a file, writing to a network socket, or … Read more

What is a transient variable?

A transient variable is a variable that may not be serialized. In Java, a transient variable is a variable that is marked with the transient keyword. When an instance of a class is serialized, the values of its transient variables are not included in the serialized form. This means that transient variables are not part … Read more