Avoid synchronized(this) in Java?

Question

Whenever a question pops up on SO about Java synchronization, some people are very eager to point out that synchronized(this) should be avoided. Instead, they c

Answer 1

A good example for use synchronized(this).

// add listener
public final synchronized void addListener(IListener l) {listeners.add(l);}
// remove listener
public final synchronized void removeListener(IListener l) {listeners.remove(l);}
// routine that raise events
public void run() {
   // some code here...
   Set ls;
   synchronized(this) {
      ls = listeners.clone();
   }
   for (IListener l : ls) { l.processEvent(event); }
   // some code here...
}

As you can see here, we use synchronize on this to easy cooperate of lengthly (possibly infinite loop of run method) with some synchronized methods there.

Of course it can be very easily rewritten with using synchronized on private field. But sometimes, when we already have some design with synchronized methods (i.e. legacy class, we derive from, synchronized(this) can be the only solution).