What are the performance differences between synchronized and atomic operations?

What are the performance differences between synchronized and atomic operations?

Synchronized operations can introduce more overhead due to locking mechanisms, while atomic operations are generally faster as they avoid locks.

Can you explain why atomic operations are faster?

Atomic operations are executed in a single step without interruption, which reduces context switching and lock contention.

Are there any scenarios where synchronized operations are preferred?

Yes, synchronized operations are preferred when you need to maintain complex state or when multiple threads need to access shared resources safely.

What about the impact on scalability?

Atomic operations typically scale better in multi-threaded environments since they reduce contention, allowing more threads to operate concurrently.