java线程同步机制：关键字volatile

volatile是Java虚拟机提供的最轻量级的同步机制。当一个变量A被定义成volatile后，可以保证此变量对所有线程的可见性，这里的可见性是指，当一条线程修改了A的值，A的新值对于其他线程来说是可以“立即”得知的。

如下代码创建的5个线程，每个线程根据shutdownRequested的状态来切换执行的流程。

public class VolatileTest {

	private static final int THREADS_COUNT = 5;
	volatile static boolean shutdownRequested;	
	
	public static void doWork(String threadname) {
		while(!shutdownRequested) {
			//so some work.
		}
		System.out.println(threadname + " stopped...");
	}

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Thread[] threads = new Thread[THREADS_COUNT];
		for(int i = 0; i < THREADS_COUNT; i++) {
			threads[i] = new Thread(new Runnable() {
				@Override
				public void run() {
					doWork("ThreadExcutedTime:" + System.currentTimeMillis());
				}
			});
			threads[i].start();
		}
		
		try {
			System.out.println("Sleep 2s begin");
			Thread.sleep(2000);			
			System.out.println("Sleep 2s end");
			shutdownRequested = true;
			System.out.println("Stop thread...");
		} catch (InterruptedException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}		
	}

}

输出结果：
Sleep 2s begin
Sleep 2s end
Stop thread...
ThreadExcutedTime:1625193970262 stopped...
ThreadExcutedTime:1625193970236 stopped...
ThreadExcutedTime:1625193970276 stopped...
ThreadExcutedTime:1625193970290 stopped...
ThreadExcutedTime:1625193970212 stopped...

当shutdownRequested被声明为volatile类型后，最开始shutdownRequested为false，每个线程都在执行while循环，当2s后shutdownRequested设置为true时，5个线程“立即”结束while循环，执行后面的代码。

当我们去除shutdownRequested的volatile声明后:

/*volatile */static boolean shutdownRequested;

输出结果
Sleep 2s begin
Sleep 2s end
Stop thread...
可见五个线程仍在继续执行while循环，没有往下走，这是因为线程没有立即感知到shutdownRequested的状态变化。