Added more Singleton documentation iluwatar#188

iluwatar · iluwatar · commit 6413c4d2be13 · 2015-10-02T22:53:41.000+03:00
diff --git a/singleton/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/singleton/App.java b/singleton/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/singleton/App.java
@@ -1,23 +1,35 @@
-/**
- * Singleton pattern.
- */
-
 package com.iluwatar.singleton;
 
 /**
- * Singleton pattern ensures that the class ({@link IvoryTower}) can have only one
- * existing instance per Java classloader instance and provides global access to it.
+ * Singleton pattern ensures that the class can have only one existing instance per Java classloader instance 
+ * and provides global access to it.
  * <p/>
- * http://stackoverflow.com/questions/70689/what-is-an-efficient-way-to-implement-a-singleton-pattern-in-java
- * <p/>
- * The risk of this pattern is that bugs resulting from setting a singleton up in
+ * One of the risks of this pattern is that bugs resulting from setting a singleton up in
  * a distributed environment can be tricky to debug, since it will work fine if you
  * debug with a single classloader. Additionally, these problems can crop up a while
  * after the implementation of a singleton, since they may start out synchronous and
  * only become async with time, so you it may not be clear why you are seeing certain
  * changes in behaviour.
  * <p/>
- * http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17721263/singleton-across-jvm-or-application-instance-or-tomcat-instance
+ * There are many ways to implement the Singleton. The first one is the eagerly initialized instance in
+ * {@link IvoryTower}. Eager initialization implies that the implementation is thread safe. If you can
+ * afford giving up control of the instantiation moment, then this implementation will suit you fine.
+ * <p/>
+ * The other option to implement eagerly initialized Singleton is enum based Singleton. The example is
+ * found in {@link EnumIvoryTower}. At first glance the code looks short and simple. However, you should
+ * be aware of the downsides including committing to implementation strategy, extending the enum class,
+ * serializability and restrictions to coding. These are extensively discussed in Stack Overflow:
+ * http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/179386/what-are-the-downsides-of-implementing-a-singleton-with-javas-enum
+ * <p/>
+ * {@link ThreadSafeLazyLoadedIvoryTower} is a Singleton implementation that is initialized on demand.
+ * The downside is that it is very slow to access since the whole access method is synchronized.
+ * <p/>
+ * Another Singleton implementation that is initialized on demand is found in {@link ThreadSafeDoubleCheckLocking}. It
+ * is somewhat faster than {@link ThreadSafeLazyLoadedIvoryTower} since it doesn't synchronize the whole access method
+ * but only the method internals on specific conditions.
+ * <p/>
+ * Yet another way to implement thread safe lazily initialized Singleton can be found in {@link InitializingOnDemandHolderIdiom}. 
+ * However, this implementation requires at least Java 8 API level to work.
  */
 public class App {
 
@@ -48,16 +60,18 @@ public static void main(String[] args) {
     System.out.println("enumIvoryTower1=" + enumIvoryTower1);
     System.out.println("enumIvoryTower2=" + enumIvoryTower2);
 
+    // double checked locking
+    ThreadSafeDoubleCheckLocking dcl1 = ThreadSafeDoubleCheckLocking.getInstance();
+    System.out.println(dcl1);
+    ThreadSafeDoubleCheckLocking dcl2 = ThreadSafeDoubleCheckLocking.getInstance();
+    System.out.println(dcl2);
+    
+    // initialize on demand holder idiom
     InitializingOnDemandHolderIdiom demandHolderIdiom =
             InitializingOnDemandHolderIdiom.getInstance();
     System.out.println(demandHolderIdiom);
     InitializingOnDemandHolderIdiom demandHolderIdiom2 =
             InitializingOnDemandHolderIdiom.getInstance();
     System.out.println(demandHolderIdiom2);
-
-    ThreadSafeDoubleCheckLocking dcl1 = ThreadSafeDoubleCheckLocking.getInstance();
-    System.out.println(dcl1);
-    ThreadSafeDoubleCheckLocking dcl2 = ThreadSafeDoubleCheckLocking.getInstance();
-    System.out.println(dcl2);
   }
 }
diff --git a/singleton/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/singleton/IvoryTower.java b/singleton/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/singleton/IvoryTower.java
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ public final class IvoryTower {
   /**
    * Static to class instance of the class.
    */
-  private static IvoryTower instance = new IvoryTower();
+  private static final IvoryTower instance = new IvoryTower();
 
   /**
    * Private constructor so nobody can instantiate the class.
