Java 1.4 synchronization: only allow one instance of method to run (non blocking)?

Question

I have a class proposing translations utilities. The translations themselves should be reloaded every 30 minutes. I use Spring Timer support for that. Basically, my class lo

Answer 1

Use some form of locking mechanism to only perform the task if it is not already in progress. Acquiring the locking token must be a one-step process. See:

/**
 * @author McDowell
 */
public abstract class NonconcurrentTask implements Runnable {

    private boolean token = true;

    private synchronized boolean acquire() {
        boolean ret = token;
        token = false;
        return ret;
    }

    private synchronized void release() {
        token = true;
    }

    public final void run() {
        if (acquire()) {
            try {
                doTask();
            } finally {
                release();
            }
        }
    }

    protected abstract void doTask();

}

Test code that will throw an exception if the task runs concurrently:

public class Test {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        final NonconcurrentTask shared = new NonconcurrentTask() {
            private boolean working = false;

            protected void doTask() {
                System.out.println("Working: "
                        + Thread.currentThread().getName());
                if (working) {
                    throw new IllegalStateException();
                }
                working = true;
                try {
                    Thread.sleep(1000);
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    throw new RuntimeException(e);
                }
                if (!working) {
                    throw new IllegalStateException();
                }
                working = false;
            }
        };

        Runnable taskWrapper = new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                while (true) {
                    try {
                        Thread.sleep(100);
                    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                        throw new RuntimeException(e);
                    }
                    shared.run();
                }
            }
        };
        for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
            new Thread(taskWrapper).start();
        }
    }

}