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Simply Singleton

Navigate the deceptively simple Singleton pattern

By David Geary, JavaWorld.com, 04/25/03

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The Singleton pattern is deceptively simple, even and especially for Java developers. In this classic JavaWorld article, David Geary demonstrates how Java developers implement singletons, with code examples for multithreading, classloaders, and serialization using the Singleton pattern. He concludes with a look at implementing singleton registries in order to specify singletons at runtime.

Sometimes it's appropriate to have exactly one instance of a class: window managers, print spoolers, and filesystems are prototypical examples. Typically, those types of objects—known as singletons—are accessed by disparate objects throughout a software system, and therefore require a global point of access. Of course, just when you're certain you will never need more than one instance, it's a good bet you'll change your mind.

The Singleton design pattern addresses all of these concerns. With the Singleton design pattern you can:

  • Ensure that only one instance of a class is created
  • Provide a global point of access to the object
  • Allow multiple instances in the future without affecting a singleton class's clients

Although the Singleton design pattern—as evidenced below by the figure below—is one of the simplest design patterns, it presents a number of pitfalls for the unwary Java developer. This article discusses the Singleton design pattern and addresses those pitfalls.

More about Java design patterns

You can read all of David Geary's Java Design Patterns columns, or view a listing of JavaWorld's most recent articles about Java design patterns. See "Design patterns, the big picture" for a discussion about the pros and cons of using the Gang of Four patterns. Want more? Get the Enterprise Java newsletter delivered to your inbox.

The Singleton pattern

In Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software, the Gang of Four describe the Singleton pattern like this:

Ensure a class has only one instance, and provide a global point of access to it.

The figure below illustrates the Singleton design pattern class diagram.

Singleton class diagram

As you can see, there's not a whole lot to the Singleton design pattern. Singletons maintain a static reference to the sole singleton instance and return a reference to that instance from a static instance() method.

Example 1 shows a classic Singleton design pattern implementation:

Example 1. The classic singleton

public class ClassicSingleton {
   private static ClassicSingleton instance = null;
   protected ClassicSingleton() {
      // Exists only to defeat instantiation.
   }
   public static ClassicSingleton getInstance() {
      if(instance == null) {
         instance = new ClassicSingleton();
      }
      return instance;
   }
}

The singleton implemented in Example 1 is easy to understand. The ClassicSingleton class maintains a static reference to the lone singleton instance and returns that reference from the static getInstance() method.

There are several interesting points concerning the ClassicSingleton class. First, ClassicSingleton employs a technique known as lazy instantiation to create the singleton; as a result, the singleton instance is not created until the getInstance() method is called for the first time. This technique ensures that singleton instances are created only when needed.

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