Question

Static vs INstance variables? In non thread safe classes like Servlets and Action.

Asked by: Madhu_A

So in non thread safe classes like servlets and Struts action classes the Instance variables are shared by all objects and these varibles are stored on the HEAP.

So how are instance variables any different from Static variables in such non thread safe classes apart from how we access them (object s class). In case of instance variables objects can modify the values and in case of static variables class name access can change their value.

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Asked On
2008-12-06 at 22:01:11ID23963760
Tags

Sun

,

Java

Topics

Java Servlets

,

Java Programming Language

Participating Experts
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Answers

 

by: objectsPosted on 2008-12-06 at 23:04:49ID: 23114978

there is no difference, statics also need to be checked for thread safety.

 

by: humanonomicsPosted on 2008-12-06 at 23:08:24ID: 23114983

The one major diff that I can think of is, the instance variables may have different values for different objects/instances created for the class they are in, whether the instance variables are being accessed by different threads or not. Where as no matter how many instances of the class you make, the value of static variable is same throughout the jvm (please refer the code snippet for this example.).

class StaticVariableClass
{
	public static int i = 0;
	
	
}
 
public class StaticTest
{
	public static void main(String[] args)
	{
		StaticVariableClass.i = 1;
		StaticVariableClass svc1 = new StaticVariableClass();
		StaticVariableClass.i = 2;
		StaticVariableClass svc2 = new StaticVariableClass();
		StaticVariableClass.i = 3;
		StaticVariableClass svc3 = new StaticVariableClass();
		StaticVariableClass.i = 4;
		StaticVariableClass svc4 = new StaticVariableClass();
		StaticVariableClass.i = 5;
		
		System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :StaticVariableClass.i: " + StaticVariableClass.i);
		System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc1.i: " + svc1.i);
		System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc1.i: " + svc2.i);
		System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc1.i: " + svc3.i);
		System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc1.i: " + svc4.i);
		
	}
}

                                              
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by: Madhu_APosted on 2008-12-06 at 23:36:53ID: 23115023


humanonomics: I do not get your explanation. I ran your code and saw nothing unusual - the static variable not matter how it is accessed just retains the latest varibale.

objects: So instance variables are always not Thread safe not just in servlet classes. Any general class (used in web container or not) if has instance variables - will not be thread safe, right?

 

by: objectsPosted on 2008-12-07 at 01:02:33ID: 23115144

its really a method thats thread safe, not a variable. Which in a way is why the type of variables is largely irrelevant.

 

by: humanonomicsPosted on 2008-12-07 at 01:48:38ID: 23115235

No you are still not getting the point.

Please refer to modified code snippet.

What I meant was, if I have one instance variable in a class and have its multiple copies, then I can have different values for same instance variables in different instances, where as for a static variable, the value remains same throughout the jvm, no matter how many instances of the class you create.

class StaticVariableClass
{
        public static int i = 0;
        
        public int nonstatic = 0; 
        
}
 
public class StaticTest
{
        public static void main(String[] args)
        {
                StaticVariableClass.i = 1;
                StaticVariableClass svc1 = new StaticVariableClass();
                svc1.nonstatic = 1;
                StaticVariableClass.i = 2;
                StaticVariableClass svc2 = new StaticVariableClass();
                svc2.nonstatic = 2;
                StaticVariableClass.i = 3;
                StaticVariableClass svc3 = new StaticVariableClass();
                svc3.nonstatic = 3;
                StaticVariableClass.i = 4;
                StaticVariableClass svc4 = new StaticVariableClass();
                svc4.nonstatic = 4;
                StaticVariableClass.i = 5;
                
                System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :StaticVariableClass.i: " + StaticVariableClass.i);
                System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc1.i: " + svc1.i);
                System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc2.i: " + svc2.i);
                System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc3.i: " + svc3.i);
                System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc4.i: " + svc4.i);
                
                System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc1.i: " + svc1.nonstatic);
                System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc2.i: " + svc2.nonstatic);
                System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc3.i: " + svc3.nonstatic);
                System.out.println("StaticTest.main() :svc4.i: " + svc4.nonstatic);
                
                
        }
}

                                              
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by: CEHJPosted on 2008-12-07 at 04:40:08ID: 23115592

>> in non thread safe classes like servlets and Struts action classes the Instance variables are shared by all objects

No, they're not shared. Each instance has its own variable. Only static variables are shared

You're really mixing up two issues here, and it might be wiser to consider them separately

1. Thread safety
2.  The presence and multiplicity of an objects variables

 

by: Madhu_APosted on 2008-12-07 at 12:56:22ID: 23117384

CEHJ - I have seen and read that in case of threads its wiser to not use Instance variables as they are shared on the HEAP and hence each thread can modify other threads instance variables. I have seen this happen in Servlets, Filter classes etc.

Looks like on the other hand objects do not share instance variables. I ran humanomics program and that is clear that each object has it own copy of the instance variable.

So what is the difference between a thread and an Object in terms of sharing the variables?

 

by: CEHJPosted on 2008-12-07 at 13:08:35ID: 23117428

>>So what is the difference between a thread and an Object in terms of sharing the variables?

The difference is not between a thread and an object. The difference lies between local variables and instance variables.

Although there does seem some confusion, you're quite right about instance variables being on the heap, and they are 'shared' only in the sense that each thread accessing them sees the same variable.

OTOH, local variables, which are seen inside methods of an object, are relatively independent as each accessing thread has its own copy of the variable

 

by: Madhu_APosted on 2008-12-07 at 13:09:16ID: 23117430

I am really confused now. As I ran the below program I was hoping that value of nonstatic variable will be 2 when the second thread executes but it is still 1 !!

Why are instance variables shared by threads only in case of servlets, struts filters etc and not here?

class StaticVariableClass extends Thread
{
        public static int sttatic = 0;
        
        public int nonstatic = 0; 
 
        public void run()
        {
            sttatic++;
            nonstatic++;
System.out.println("Threadname = " + thread.currentThread().getName());
            System.out.println("static=" + sttatic);
            System.out.println("nonstatic=" + nonstatic);
        }
}
################################
public class StaticTest
{
        public static void main(String[] args)
        {
            Thread thread1 = new StaticVariableClass();
            thread1.start();
            
            Thread thread2 =  new StaticVariableClass();
            thread2.start();      
        }
}
 
###################output
Threadname = Thread-0
static=1
nonstatic=1
Threadname = Thread-1
static=2
nonstatic=1

                                              
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by: objectsPosted on 2008-12-07 at 13:56:21ID: 23117593

> then I can have different values for same instance variables in different instances, where as for a static variable, the value remains same throughout the jvm, no matter how many instances of the class you create.

Its nothing to with the variables :)  Thread safe is related to multiple *threads* accessing the same *method". The number of instances of a class or member variables doesn't make any difference.

> Why are instance variables shared by threads only in case of servlets, struts filters etc and not here?

Theya aren't shared. Each instance of a class has its own copy of the member bvars. In struts you probably just have the one instance of the class.
But again this has nothing to with thread safety :)

 

by: CEHJPosted on 2008-12-07 at 14:03:18ID: 23117614

>>As I ran the below program I was hoping that value of nonstatic variable will be 2 when the second thread executes but it is still 1 !!

Why did you think that? They are completely separate objects. As i mentioned above, instance variables are *not* shared. The only 'sharing' that occurs is in that very limited connection with thread access in the way i mentioned in my last comment

 

by: Madhu_APosted on 2009-02-06 at 16:22:05ID: 23575671

Guys thanks for answering. After reading a chapter on Threads recently I came back to this question and your answers make much sense.

Instance variables though shared by Threads can have different values in different instances - which is obvious and I missed this point.

Static variables being tied to the class is shared by all threads no matter on what object the threads are running.

 

by: Madhu_APosted on 2009-02-06 at 16:23:41ID: 31523549

Confusing topic and revisiting a book made the answers clearer. Thanks.

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