When to use wait()/notify() in Java?

• For controlling shared resources ("pooling") such as database connections. If all resources are currently in use, one thread can wait to be notified that a resource has become available.
• For background execution or coordinating multi-threaded execution: the controlling thread can wait for other threads to notify it of completion of a task.
• For creating thread pools or job queues on a server: a fixed number of threads would sit waiting to be notified that a new job had been added to the list.

Wait()/notify() in Java 5

As of Java 5, there is less need for programmers to use wait()/notify(), since other classes are available in the Java concurrency package (java.util.concurrent) to handle these common situations. For example:

• In a common producer-consumer pattern, such as a logging thread, it is generally preferable to use a blocking queue;
• To coordinate threads, for example to parallelise a task, it is generally more convenient to use a countdown latch.

Next: how to use wait/notify

On the next page, we'll continue by looking at how to use wait/notify in Java.