I have a Collections.synchronizedList of WeakReference, _components;
I wrote something like the following, expecting the complier to complain:
public boolean addComponent2(Component e) {
synchronized (_components) {
return _components.add(new WeakReference<Component>(e));
}
}
But the compiler is perfectly satisfied. Note that List.add() returns TRUE. So ok, any exit from a synchronized block releases the lock, but doesn't this LOOK strange? It's kind of like a "hole" in the block, similar to using return in a loop.
Would you be happy maintaining code like this?
There is nothing wrong with returning inside a
synchronized
block. The lock will be released correctly.It's absolutely fine - as is returning from a loop, or from a
try
block which has an appropriatefinally
block. You just need to be aware of the semantics, at which point it makes perfect sense.It's certainly simpler code than introducing a local variable for the sake of it: