Is this an acceptable way to create a lock in Java ? [closed]

Question

I ran into this logic that someone had implemented at work today and it just feels wrong to be creating locks this way. Do you guys have a better solution for this ? The problem with not using synchronized block on myObj is that it can be null. Any other suggestions ??

 public class myClass {
    private Object myObj;
    private Object lock = new Object();

    public void method1() {
        synchronized( lock ) {
            // has logic to read myObj
        }
    }


    public void method2()  {
        synchronized( lock ) {
            // has logic to update myObj
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Looks appropriate to me. I'd also add final to the lock declaration to make sure it doesn't inadvertently get changed:

private final Object lock = new Object();

Answer 2

It's appropriate. Another way, while it is hotly debated whether it is proper, is to synchronize this if you want to lock.