static member's synchronization

[Rauhl Roy]

Hi all,,

can we synchronization static methods blocks..etc? if not.. why we can not do on it. is it just because we static variables and methods are do not belong to class?

[Stan James]

Static methods and variables belong to the class, not any particular instance of the class. So a synchronized static method synchronizes on the class itself. A thread must get the monitor on the class before entering the method.

A block synchronized on a static variable gives roughly the same effect; a thread must get the monitor for the object referenced by that variable before entering the block. No matter how many instances there are, they are all synchronized on the same object.

Does that make sense?

[Ken Blair]

Originally posted by Stan James:

A block synchronized on a static variable gives roughly the same effect; a thread must get the monitor for the object referenced by that variable before entering the block. No matter how many instances there are, they are all synchronized on the same object.

With the unstated assumption that the value of the variable hasn't been changed to point at a different object.