Java object serialization - thread safety?

Question

I am writing a very parallel application that intensively modifies MyClass objects. A class consists of several fields. My question is, how to prevent modifications to a particular object during its serialization by another thread?

Regards, Matt

Answer 1

synchronize like methods that serialize and change the state of an object.

Answer 2

Why change MyClass? The best approach (and much easier to handle) is to create new, immutable versions of the state object and CAS using AtomicReference when updating. For example:

final class MyClass { final int age; final String name; final String address; MyClass(int age, String name, String address) {…} MyClass setNameAndAddress(String name, String address) {return new MyClass(age, name, address);} } 

Then serialization is not a problem, since you are dealing with an immutable object. Your saved link can only change from one valid state to another, and several updates can be performed atomically.