Volatile Variable

What is volatile variable

The Java volatile keyword cannot be used with method or class and it can only be used with a variable. Java volatile keyword also guarantees visibility and ordering, after Java 5 write to any volatile variable happens before any read into the volatile variable. By the way use of volatile keyword also prevents compiler or JVM from the reordering of code or moving away them from synchronization barrier.

When use Volatile variable

One of the most important thing in learning of volatile keyword is understanding when to use volatile variable in Java. Many programmer knows what is volatile variable and how does it work but they never really used volatile for any practical purpose. Here are couple of example to demonstrate when to use Volatile keyword in Java:

1) You can use Volatile variable if you want to read and write long and double variable atomically. long and double both are 64 bit data type and by default writing of long and double is not atomic and platform dependence. Many platform perform write in long and double variable 2 step, writing 32 bit in each step, due to this its possible for a Thread to see 32 bit from two different write. You can avoid this issue by making long and double variable volatile in Java.

2) A volatile variable can be used as an alternative way of achieving synchronization in Java in some cases, like Visibility. with volatile variable, it's guaranteed that all reader thread will see updated value of the volatile variable once write operation completed, without volatile keyword different reader thread may see different values.

3) volatile variable can be used to inform the compiler that a particular field is subject to be accessed by multiple threads, which will prevent the compiler from doing any reordering or any kind of optimization which is not desirable in a multi-threaded environment. Without volatile variable compiler can re-order the code, free to cache value of volatile variable instead of always reading from main memory. like following example without volatile variable may result in an infinite loop

private boolean isActive = thread;

public void printMessage(){

  while(isActive){

     System.out.println("Thread is Active");

  }

} 

without the volatile modifier, it's not guaranteed that one Thread sees the updated value of isActive from other thread. The compiler is also free to cache value of isActive instead of reading it from main memory in every iteration. By making isActive a volatile variable you avoid these issue.

4) Another place where a volatile variable can be used is to fixing double checked locking in Singleton pattern. As we discussed in Why should you use Enum as Singleton that double checked locking was broken in Java 1.4 environment.

Important points on Volatile keyword in Java

1. The volatile keyword in Java is only application to a variable and using volatile keyword with class and method is illegal.

2. volatile keyword in Java guarantees that value of the volatile variable will always be read from main memory and not from Thread's local cache.

3. In Java reads and writes are atomic for all variables declared using Java volatile keyword (including long and double variables).

4. Using the volatile keyword in Java on variables reduces the risk of memory consistency errors because any write to a volatile variable in Java establishes a happens-before relationship with subsequent reads of that same variable.

5. From Java 5 changes to a volatile variable are always visible to other threads. What's more, it also means that when a thread reads a volatile variable in Java, it sees not just the latest change to the volatile variable but also the side effects of the code that led up the change.

6. Reads and writes are atomic for reference variables are for most primitive variables (all types except long and double) even without the use of volatile keyword in Java.

7. An access to a volatile variable in Java never has a chance to block, since we are only doing a simple read or write, so unlike a synchronized block we will never hold on to any lock or wait for any lock.

8. Java volatile variable that is an object reference may be null.

9. Java volatile keyword doesn't mean atomic, its common misconception that after declaring volatile ++ will be atomic, to make the operation atomic you still need to ensure exclusive access using synchronized method or block in Java.

10. If a variable is not shared between multiple threads, you don't need to use volatile keyword with that variable.

Difference between synchronized and volatile keyword in Java

What is the difference between volatile and synchronized is another popular core Java question asked on multi-threading and concurrency interviews. Remember volatile is not a replacement of synchronized keyword but can be used as an alternative in certain cases. Here are few differences between volatile and synchronized keyword in Java.

1. The volatile keyword in Java is a field modifier while synchronized modifies code blocks and methods.

2. Synchronized obtains and releases the lock on monitor’s Java volatile keyword doesn't require that.

3. Threads in Java can be blocked for waiting for any monitor in case of synchronized, that is not the case with the volatile keyword in Java.

4. Synchronized method affects performance more than a volatile keyword in Java.

5. Since volatile keyword in Java only synchronizes the value of one variable between Thread memory and "main" memory while synchronized synchronizes the value of all variable between thread memory and "main" memory and locks and releases a monitor to boot. Due to this reason synchronized keyword in Java is likely to have more overhead than volatile.

6. You can not synchronize on the null object but your volatile variable in Java could be null.

7. From Java 5 writing into a volatile field has the same memory effect as a monitor release, and reading from a volatile field has the same memory effect as a monitor acquire

In short, volatile keyword in Java is not a replacement of synchronized block or method but in some situation is very handy and can save performance overhead which comes with use of synchronization in Java. If you like to know more about volatile I would also suggest going thorough FAQ on Java Memory Model here which explains happens-before operations quite well.

Thank you