Java volatile reference vs. AtomicReference

Question

Is there any difference between a volatile Object reference and AtomicReference in case I would just use get() and set()-

Answer 1

JDK source code is one of the best ways to answers confusions like this. If you look at the code in AtomicReference, it uses a volatie variable for object storage.

private volatile V value;

So, obviously if you are going to just use get() and set() on AtomicReference it is like using a volatile variable. But as other readers commented, AtomicReference provides additional CAS semantics. So, first decide if you want CAS semantics or not, and if you do only then use AtomicReference.