why people bother to interview here (Part 1)

I have just gotten out of yet another interview with a “senior” Java candidate who doesn’t know threading at all. Please don’t claim you are a senior candidate unless you can answer this basic question.

If 4 threads are each entering each of the methods below at exactly the same time, how do they interact?


public class classy {
    public static synchronized f() { /* do nothing */ }
    public        synchronized g() { /* do nothing */ }
    public static              h() { /* do nothing */ }
    public                     i() { /* do nothing */ }
}

No, the answer is not going to be given. It is simply unbelievable how many candidates have failed this test miserably. Don’t be one of them!

This post is labeled Part 1 because there will be more rants in this area I am sure!

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