Avoid synchronized(this) in Java?

Question

Whenever a question pops up on SO about Java synchronization, some people are very eager to point out that synchronized(this) should be avoided. Instead, they c

Answer 1

This is really just supplementary to the other answers, but if your main objection to using private objects for locking is that it clutters your class with fields that are not related to the business logic then Project Lombok has @Synchronized to generate the boilerplate at compile-time:

@Synchronized
public int foo() {
    return 0;
}

compiles to

private final Object $lock = new Object[0];

public int foo() {
    synchronized($lock) {
        return 0;
    }
}