What does synchronized modifier do in Java?

The synchronized keyword used to indicate that a method can be accessed by only one thread at a time. The synchronized modifier can be applied with any of the four access level modifiers.

Example

Live Demo

public class TestThread {
   public static Object Lock1 = new Object();
   public static Object Lock2 = new Object();
   
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      ThreadDemo1 T1 = new ThreadDemo1();
      ThreadDemo2 T2 = new ThreadDemo2();
      T1.start();
      T2.start();
   }
   private static class ThreadDemo1 extends Thread {
      public void run() {
         synchronized (Lock1) {
            System.out.println("Thread 1: Holding lock 1...");
            try { Thread.sleep(10); }
            catch (InterruptedException e) {}
            System.out.println("Thread 1: Waiting for lock 2...");
            
            synchronized (Lock2) {
               System.out.println("Thread 1: Holding lock 1 & 2...");
            }
         }
      }
   }
   private static class ThreadDemo2 extends Thread {
      public void run() {
         synchronized (Lock2) {
            System.out.println("Thread 2: Holding lock 2...");
            try { Thread.sleep(10); }
            catch (InterruptedException e) {}
            System.out.println("Thread 2: Waiting for lock 1...");
            
            synchronized (Lock1) {
               System.out.println("Thread 2: Holding lock 1 & 2...");
            }
         }
      }
   }
}

Output

Thread 1: Holding lock 1...
Thread 2: Holding lock 2...
Thread 1: Waiting for lock 2...
Thread 2: Waiting for lock 1...