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Java programming language provides a handy way synchronizing thread's task by using synchronized blocks

class PrintDemo {
   public void printCount() {
      try {
         for(int i = 5; i > 0; i--) {
            System.out.println("Counter   ---   "  + i );
         }
      }catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println("Thread  interrupted.");
      }
   }
}

class ThreadDemo extends Thread {
   private Thread t;
   private String threadName;
   PrintDemo  PD;

   ThreadDemo( String name,  PrintDemo pd) {
      threadName = name;
      PD = pd;
   }
   
   public void run() {
      synchronized(PD) {
         PD.printCount();
      }
      System.out.println("Thread " +  threadName + " exiting.");
   }

   public void start () {
      System.out.println("Starting " +  threadName );
      if (t == null) {
         t = new Thread (this, threadName);
         t.start ();
      }
   }
}

public class TestThread {

   public static void main(String args[]) {
      PrintDemo PD = new PrintDemo();

      ThreadDemo T1 = new ThreadDemo( "Thread - 1 ", PD );
      ThreadDemo T2 = new ThreadDemo( "Thread - 2 ", PD );

      T1.start();
      T2.start();

      // wait for threads to end
      try {
         T1.join();
         T2.join();
      }catch( Exception e) {
         System.out.println("Interrupted");
      }
   }
}

Starting Thread - 1
Starting Thread - 2
Counter   ---   5
Counter   ---   4
Counter   ---   3
Counter   ---   2
Counter   ---   1
Thread Thread - 1  exiting.
Counter   ---   5
Counter   ---   4
Counter   ---   3
Counter   ---   2
Counter   ---   1
Thread Thread - 2  exiting.

When we start two or more threads within a program, there may be a situation when multiple threads try to access the same resource and finally they can produce unforeseen result due to concurrency issues.

class PrintDemo {
   public void printCount() {
      try {
         for(int i = 5; i > 0; i--) {
            System.out.println("Counter   ---   "  + i );
         }
      }catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println("Thread  interrupted.");
      }
   }
}

class ThreadDemo extends Thread {
   private Thread t;
   private String threadName;
   PrintDemo  PD;

   ThreadDemo( String name,  PrintDemo pd) {
      threadName = name;
      PD = pd;
   }
   
   public void run() {
      PD.printCount();
      System.out.println("Thread " +  threadName + " exiting.");
   }

   public void start () {
      System.out.println("Starting " +  threadName );
      if (t == null) {
         t = new Thread (this, threadName);
         t.start ();
      }
   }
}

public class TestThread {
   public static void main(String args[]) {

      PrintDemo PD = new PrintDemo();

      ThreadDemo T1 = new ThreadDemo( "Thread - 1 ", PD );
      ThreadDemo T2 = new ThreadDemo( "Thread - 2 ", PD );

      //T1 and T2 are started at the same time => We can have concurrency issue when they try to access PD
      T1.start();
      T2.start();

      // wait for threads to end
         try {
         T1.join();
         T2.join();
      }catch( Exception e) {
         System.out.println("Interrupted");
      }
   }
}

Starting Thread - 1
Starting Thread - 2
Counter   ---   5
Counter   ---   4
Counter   ---   3
Counter   ---   5
Counter   ---   2
Counter   ---   1
Counter   ---   4
Thread Thread - 1  exiting.
Counter   ---   3
Counter   ---   2
Counter   ---   1
Thread Thread - 2  exiting.

There are 2 main problems with synchronization:

1. Interference: Interference happens when two operations, running in different threads, but acting on the same data, interleave. This means that the two operations consist of multiple steps, and the sequences of steps overlap.

2. Memory consistency errors occur when different threads have inconsistent views of what should be the same data. This is also called the problem of visibility. What is done by one thread must be seen immediately by another thread but it's not the case if mechanisms such as synchronized, volatile ... are not used.