Object Oriented Programming Questions Medium
The 'synchronized' keyword in object-oriented programming (OOP) is used to provide mutual exclusion and thread safety in concurrent programming.
In OOP, when multiple threads are accessing and modifying shared resources or objects concurrently, there is a possibility of data inconsistency or race conditions. The 'synchronized' keyword helps to prevent such issues by ensuring that only one thread can access a synchronized block or method at a time.
When a method or block is declared as synchronized, it creates a lock on the object or class it belongs to. This means that only one thread can execute the synchronized code at any given time, while other threads have to wait until the lock is released.
The purpose of using the 'synchronized' keyword is to ensure that critical sections of code are executed atomically, preventing data corruption or inconsistent states. It helps in maintaining data integrity and avoiding race conditions, where multiple threads try to modify shared data simultaneously.
By using the 'synchronized' keyword, developers can control the access to shared resources and ensure that only one thread can modify them at a time. This helps in achieving thread safety and avoiding conflicts between concurrent threads.
However, it is important to note that excessive use of the 'synchronized' keyword can lead to performance issues, as it introduces overhead due to thread synchronization. Therefore, it should be used judiciously and only when necessary to maintain data consistency in concurrent programming scenarios.