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

Keep a handle on the load thread to see if it's running?

Or can't you just use a synchronized flag to indicate if a load is in progress?