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Significance of use of keyword synchronized in the following code

I was reading multi threading in Java from the book Java The Complete Reference by Herbert Schildt. I came across following code [Pg. 252, 7th ed.] that explained the usage of wait() and notify() to suspend and resume threads in modern Java. My question is regarding the significance of the keyword synchronization at two places in following code (in run() method of class NewThread):
// Suspending and resuming a thread the modern way.
class NewThread implements Runnable {
String name;
Thread t;
boolean suspendFlag;
NewThread(String threadname) {
name = threadname;
t = new Thread(this, name);
suspendFlag = false;
t.start();
}
// This is the entry point for thread.
public void run() {
try {
for (int i = 15; i > 0; i--) {
System.out.println(name + ": " + i);
Thread.sleep(200);
synchronized (this) { //First doubt here
while (suspendFlag) {
wait();
}
}
}
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
System.out.println(name + " interrupted.");
}
System.out.println(name + " exiting.");
}
void mysuspend() {
suspendFlag = true;
}
synchronized void myresume() { //Second doubt here
suspendFlag = false;
notify();
}
}
class SuspendResume {
public static void main(String args[]) {
NewThread ob1 = new NewThread("One");
NewThread ob2 = new NewThread("Two");
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
ob1.mysuspend();
Thread.sleep(1000);
ob1.myresume();
ob2.mysuspend();
Thread.sleep(1000);
ob2.myresume();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
System.out.println("Main thread Interrupted");
}
//some code
}
My doubt here: I know about the use of keyword synchronization i.e. allowing only one thread to enter a synchronized method on the same object but here we have two threads running on two different objects. So what is the significance of both synchronization keywords used in above code.
I tried running the above code by removing the synchronized keyword at each place differently and simultaneously. I am getting the same error: java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException: current thread is not owner different number of times and at different line numbers depending upon if I remove both or only one (and which one) synchronization keyword. I looked for the above error and found an explanation for it here but still couldn't connect the answer to my doubt.

The problem that synchronized solves is, it allows the two threads to have a consistent view of the shared suspendFlag variable.
In some real program, a thread might set other shared variables before setting susependFlag=false. If synchronized was not used, then the waiting thread could wake up, and see suspendFlag==false, but not see the other variables set. Or worse, it could see some of them set, but not others.
Without synchronization, Java does not guarantee that different threads will see variables updated in the same order.
I am getting the same error: java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException: current thread is not owner.
The Java library is trying to help you by forcing you to use synchronized before it will allow you to use wait() and notify(). The rule is simple: You can only call o.wait() or o.notify() or o.notifyAll() from code that is inside a synchronized(o) block. If you break that rule, then the library throws the exception.
When your code calls o.wait() the wait() call temporarily unlocks the monitor lock so that the other thread will be able to synchronize on o and call o.notify(). The o.wait() call is guaranteed to re-lock o before it returns.

Scanner(System.in) - how to cancel/skip input waiting

I am just wondering how to control console inputs in separate threads?
I have thread A and thread B and thread C; B and C they both control user input... the thing is I am not pretty sure how to switch between B and C threads the scanIn.nextLine(); because B seems to loop two unnecessary iterations before thread C can interrupt B :(
Main thread:
public class Main
{
private volatile ThreadGroup threadGroup=new ThreadGroup();//contains concurrent hash map...
private volatile TaskManager taskManager=new TaskManager(threadGroup);
private A a=new A(threadGroup);
private B b=new B(threadGroup,taskManager);
private C c=new C(threadGroup);
Main()
{
b.start();
threadGroup.add(a,"A");
threadGroup.add(b,"B");
threadGroup.add(c,"C");
}
public static void main(String args[]){new Main();}
}
TaskManager method snippet:
...
public synchronized void threadCMaybeCanBeStartedLater()
{
this.getThreadGroup().get("A").start();
}
...
thread A code like a (overridden run method invokes):
public void loopIt()
{
Random generator = new Random();
A: while(!this.interrupted())
{
Thread.sleep(1000);
int i=generator.nextInt(100)+1;
int j=generator.nextInt(100)+1;
if(i==j){this.invokeC(); System.out.println("event : i==j");}
}
}
private void invokeC()
{
if(!this.getThreadGroup().get("C").isAlive())this.getThreadGroup().get("C").start();
}
thread B code like a:
public void loopIt() throws InterruptedException
{
Scanner scanIn = new Scanner(System.in);
B: while(!this.isInterrupted())
{
Thread.sleep(1000);
String command= scanIn.nextLine();
...
if(command.equals("a"))
{
System.out.println("a was entered");
this.getTaskManager().threadCMaybeCanBeStartedLater();//
continue;
}
if(command.equals("b"))
{
System.out.println("b was entered");
continue;
}
if(command.equals("c"))
{
System.out.println("c was entered");
continue;
}
else{System.out.println("no such command");}
}
}
thread C (the run method invokes)
public void loopIt() throws InterruptedException
{
getThreadGroup().get("B").interrupt();
Scanner scanIn = new Scanner(System.in);
C: while(!this.isInterrupted())
{
Thread.sleep(1000);
String command= scanIn.nextLine();
...
if(command.equals("d"))
{
System.out.println("d was entered");
continue;
}
if(command.equals("e"))
{
System.out.println("e was entered");
this.interrupt();
break C;
}
if(command.equals("f"))
{
System.out.println("f was entered");
continue;
}
else{System.out.println("no such command");}
}
getThreadGroup().get("B").start();
}
...as you can see, the major code conception (see A thread snippet) is "you don't know when thread C can be started but when it started you need to give it console"; that's all; if it was GUI there was no problem but console-like app makes it quite problematic...
So the question is ... how to interrupt/re-start thread B immediately from thread C in this case?
Thanks

Synchronising Threads Using Thread Class
Thread.interrupt() on its own does not synchronise logic & timing between two threads.
Thread.interrupt() signals that the caller would like the thread to interrupt at a time in the near future. The interrupt() method sets an interrupt flag. The isInterrupted() method checks whether this flag is set (& also clears the flag again). The methods Thread.sleep(), Thread.join(), Object.wait() and a number of I/O methods also check & clear this flag, when throwing InterruptedException.
The thread doesn't immediately pause but continues running code. The internal thread logic is designed & implemented by the developer: continue to run thread code considered atomic/urgent until it gets to an "interruptable point", then check the interrupted flag / catch InterruptedException & then do a clean pause - usually via Thread.sleep(), Thread.join() or Object.wait(), and sometimes by exiting Thread.run() altogether thus stopping the thread permanently.
While all of this is happening the calling thread is still running and will execute an indeterminate amount of code before the interrupt takes effect... hence the lack of synchronisation. There is a lack of guaranteed happens-before condition between the code in one thread and code in the other thread.
Some approaches that do synchronise logic & timing between two threads (creating a happens-before condition):
thread1 calls Thread2.join()
thread1 calls SomeObject.wait() and thread2 calls SomeObject.notify()
Synchronise on a method or block
Quick Review of Your Code:
Thread B runs in an infinite loop - there is no call to interrupt it from any thread and no call for it's thread to wait(). It will, however, temporily block until System.in has more input, and then continue.
Thread A only interrupts itself - cleaner and easier to analyse logic if you don't call this.interrupt() and while(!this.isInterrupted()): just change the while loop into: do { .... } while (i != j)
Thread A only interrupts itself - cleaner and much easier to analyse logic if you don't call this.interrupt() and while(!this.isInterrupted()): just change the while loop into: do { .... } while (!"e".equals(command))
Thread C must make the following calls at the top of it's while loop:
threadB.interrupt();
synchronized(this) {
try {
this.wait();
} catch (InterruptedException ie) {
}
Thread B must make the following call as the last line of code:
synchronized(threadC) {
threadC.notify();
}
Reading from I/O (nextLine()) is a blocking & interruptable operation. Right next to it you introduce Thread.sleep() which is also a blocking & interruptable operation that introduces an artificial delay in your code - it is not necessary; remove.
The only Scanner method you call is nextLine(). You're using it as if it were an InputStreamReader & not doing any scanning. Also, you're not buffering input. If code stays like this, replace 'Scanner scanIn = Scanner(System.in)' with: 'BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in))'.
The only ThreadGroup method you call are add() and get(). You're using it as if it were a HashMap & not doing any thread group management. If code stays like this, you may replace 'ThreadGroup' with 'HashMap'. However, even the HashMap seems excessive - could simply pass Threads references to other Threads using constructors/setters and avoid HashMap altogether.
Avoid excessive use of continue inside loops - try to avoid altogether. Best to do this by chaining successive 'if' statements together using '} else if {'...
Potential race condition between main thread and thread B. When thread B is started (from Main()) it may execute many lines of code before the main thread executes any more code - B may call ThreadGroup.get() before main thread has called ThreadGroup.add() x 3. Solution: in Main(), put b.start() after ThreadGroup.add() x 3
In general, "a".equals(command) is better practice than command.equals("a") - it handles nulls, giving correct result without NPE (you seem lucky here - probably won't have nulls).
Suggested Changes:
public class ThreadA extends Thread {
ThreadC threadC;
public void setThreadC(ThreadC threadC) {
this.threadC = threadC;
}
#Override
public void run() {
this.loopIt();
}
public void loopIt() {
Random generator = new Random();
int i, j;
do {
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException ie) {
}
i=generator.nextInt(100)+1;
j=generator.nextInt(100)+1;
} while (i != j);
threadC.start();
}
}
public class ThreadB extends Thread {
ThreadA threadA;
ThreadC threadC;
public void setThreadA(ThreadA threadA) {
this.threadA = threadA;
}
public void setThreadC(ThreadC threadC) {
this.threadC = threadC;
}
#Override
public void run() {
this.loopIt();
}
public void loopIt() {
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
String command = null;
// loop until interrupted
try {
while (!this.isInterrupted()) {
command = reader.readLine();
if ("a".equals(command)) {
System.out.println("a was entered");
if (threadA.getState() == Thread.State.NEW) {
threadA.start();
}
} else if ("b".equals(command)) {
System.out.println("b was entered");
} else if ("c".equals(command)) {
System.out.println("c was entered");
} else if ("z".equals(command)) {
System.out.println("z was entered");
throw new InterruptedException("Command z interruption");
} else {
System.out.println("no such command");
}
}
} catch (IOException ioe) {
ioe.printStackTrace();
} catch (InterruptedException ie) {
}
// Now notify ThreadC - it will wait() until this code is run
synchronized(threadC) {
threadC.notify();
}
}
}
public class ThreadC extends Thread {
ThreadB threadB;
public void setThreadB(ThreadB threadB) {
this.threadB = threadB;
}
#Override
public void run() {
this.loopIt();
}
public void loopIt() {
// Block until the lock can be obtained
// We want thread B to run first, so the lock should be passed into Thread C constructor in an already locked state
threadB.interrupt();
synchronized(this) {
try {
// Put this thread to sleep until threadB calls threadC.notify().
//
// Note: could replace this line with threadB.join() - and remove
// from threadB the call to threadC.notify()
this.wait();
} catch (InterruptedException ie) {
}
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
String command = null;
while (!"e".equals(command)) {
try {
command= reader.readLine();
if ("d".equals(command)) {
System.out.println("d was entered");
} else if ("e".equals(command)) {
System.out.println("e was entered");
} else if ("f".equals(command)) {
System.out.println("f was entered");
} else if ("z".equals("command")) {
System.out.println("z was entered");
} else {
System.out.println("no such command");
};
} catch (IOException ioe) {
ioe.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
}

nextLine() does not respond to interruption. You want to do something like
String command;
if (scanIn.hasNextLine())
command = scanIn.nextLine();
else
Thread.sleep(1000);

You can use flag variables (as global variables) to control the while loop in each thread...
suppose that Thread A has an infinite loop like this
while(true)
while(x == 1){
your code ...
}
Thread.sleep(2000);
}
when Thread b is started you can change x to 0 (suppose x is a global variable) then when Thread b finishes executing change x to 1 at the end of Thread b code...
or you can interrupt the thread from thread itself based of flag value x

Java - can't notify a waiting thread?

System.out.println("Thread state: " + threads[i].getState());
threads[i].notify();
Produces the following output:
Thread state: WAITING
Exception in thread "Thread-1" java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at MyPakc.An.run(An.java:49)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:679)
What is going on? Why can I not notify a sleeping thread?
EDIT: The code for the threads[] class:
package Part2;
import java.util.List;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
class BThread extends Thread{
private boolean completedThisIter = false;
#Override
public synchronized void run() {
while (true) {
completedThisIter = false;
doStuff()
System.out.println("Completed iter");
completedThisIter = true;
try {
wait();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
public boolean getCompletedThisIter() {
return completedThisIter;
}
}
EDIT: Here is the code that calls this
public synchronized void run(){
// OTHER STUFF
for (int iter = 0; iter < 1212; ++iter){
System.out.println("Iter " + iter);
lastAssignedBallIndex = -1;
for (int i = 0; i < numThreads; i++) {
//System.out.println("Num " + numThreads + " " + i);
//ballThreads[i] = new BallThread(ballList.subList(lastAssignedBallIndex+1,lastAssignedBallIndex+numBallsPerThread),
// ballPanel);
//lastAssignedBallIndex += numBallsPerThread;
System.out.println("State " + ballThreads[i].getState());
if (ballThreads[i].getState() == Thread.State.NEW) {
ballThreads[i].start();
} else { //if (ballThreads[i].getState() == Thread.State.BLOCKED) {
System.out.println("Thread state: " + ballThreads[i].getState());
ballThreads[i].notify();
}
}
//try{
for (int i = 0; i < numThreads; i++) {
while (!ballThreads[i].getCompletedThisIter()) {
System.out.println("iter:" + iter + " ball:" + i + " " + ballThreads[i].getCompletedThisIter());
//wait(); // TODO elliminate polling here
}
}
System.out.println("Joined");
//}
// catch(InterruptedException ie){ie.printStackTrace();}
ballPanel.repaint();
notifyAll();
try{
Thread.sleep(2);
}
catch (InterruptedException ie){}
}
}

You're printing out the state of a ballThreads[i] then notifying a threads[i]. Not sure if this is intended behavior but you're not allowed to notify a thread when you don't own the object's monitor. Are you sure you're calling this inside a synchronized() block for the threads[i] object?
EDIT:
Yes, the method that this code is taken out of is synchronized
After your edit to your question, the synchronized is on the method, and not the monitor of the object, you need to put your code in a block that looks like this:
synchronized(threads[i]) {
// some stuff
threads[i].notify();
}
The important bit here (as opposed to the synchronized keyword in a method declaration) is that you synchronize on an Object, then inside this block, you call notify() on the Object. Examples:
public void run()
{
synchronized(myObject) {
// do some stuff
myObject.notify();
}
}
or
public void run()
{
synchronized(thread1) {
// do some stuff
thread1.notify();
}
}
or
public void run()
{
synchronized(syncObject) {
// do some stuff
syncObject.notify();
}
}
See the pattern? More info here: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/concurrency/locksync.html

wait() and notifiy() requires that you synchronize on the object that you are waiting on. if you do a wait() and notify() on the same object that you used to lock the sync block, then you will get rid of the illegal monitor state exception

You are completely misunderstanding the way the wait/notify mechanism works. The thread has to decide that there is something it needs to wait for. Then the thread must call wait. Then that something has to happen. Then you call notify to tell the thread that something happened.
You cannot have the thread call wait without first determining that there is something specific that it should wait for. And you cannot call notify until something has already happened that the thread needs to be notified about. The something that has happened should be the same thing the thread was checking for when it decided to wait.
The reason you are getting in an error is the synchronization associated with the thing waited for simply doesn't exist which violates the semantics of wait/notify.
If you're waiting for a mailbox to be non-empty, then you should check if the mailbox is empty, and if so, call wait. Make sure you are still inside the mailbox's synchronized routine, otherwise you can't know the mailbox is (still) empty. Then when you put a letter in the mailbox (which has to be inside the mailbox's synchronized routine), you call notify to let any waiting threads know the mailbox has changed state. You have to be waiting for something the thread can test, such as the state of the mailbox.

Is a notify signalled on thread finish? Why does this code sample work?

I am looking in some puzzles for threads and I can't figure out why the following consistently prints 999999:
class Job extends Thread {
private Integer number = 0;
public void run() {
for (int i = 1; i < 1000000; i++) {
number++;
}
}
public Integer getNumber() {
return number;
}
}
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args)
throws InterruptedException {
Job thread = new Job();
thread.start();
synchronized (thread) {
thread.wait();
}
System.out.println(thread.getNumber());
}
}
There is no notify on the same lock (and spurious wakeup seem to be ignored).
If a thread finishes does a notify get signalled or something?
How come main prints the result and not get "stuck" waiting?

In the Javadoc for Java 7 Thread.join(long)
This implementation uses a loop of this.wait calls conditioned on this.isAlive. As a thread terminates the this.notifyAll method is invoked. It is recommended that applications not use wait, notify, or notifyAll on Thread instances.
Using a Thread directly this way is considered bad practical. Note: wait() could end for any number of reasons, possibly spuriously.
Based on a puzzler related to #Voo's comment. The point is you shouldn't play with the internal behaviour of Thread as this is more likely to lead to confusion.
public static String getName() {
return "MyProgram";
}
public static void main(String... args) {
new Thread() {
public void run() {
System.out.println("My program is " + getName());
}
}.start();
}
What does this program print?

For clarification, I have modified your code to this:
Job thread = new Job();
thread.start();
final Object lock = new Object();
synchronized (lock) { lock.wait(); }
System.out.println(thread.getNumber());
Now it blocks. That's a first-hand confirmation of what #Nitram has explained in his answer. If you care to have a look at the Thread implementation code, it will be quite obvious why this is the observed behavior.

NOTE: This answer has been edited extensively.
The reason for this behaviour is, that "someone" is calling notifyAll internally. This "someone" is the JVM itself as you can "see" in the C sources here:
http://hg.openjdk.java.net/jdk7/hotspot/hotspot/file/f95d63e2154a/src/share/vm/runtime/thread.cpp
In line 1531 the method ensure_join calls notifyAll. This is the counterpart to the wait calls in java.lang.Thread#join (as noted by Marko and others).
ensure_join in turn is called in line 1664 in the method JavaThread::exit.
Since this is "internal bookkeeping" nobody should rely on this behaviour.

Simply put a Thread notifies all waiting threads once the execution of the threads ends. Its not the proposed why to do this, but it works. To synchronize on the end of a thread rather use Thread.join.

A thread object is automatically notified when the thread finishes, that's why the main thread doesn't get stuck.

Well....notify serves purpose of premature notifying to the threads waiting on the locked object. if you don't use Notify ,then certainly when it finishes it releases lock.
So that is equivalent to notify
no it's not..Consider the situation below.
class Job extends Thread {
private Integer number = 0;
public void run() {
synchronized(this) {
for (int i = 1; i < 1000000; i++) {
number++;
}
notify(); //releases lock here and your main thread continues
do sumthing...
do sumthing...
}
}
public Integer getNumber() {
return number;
}
}
if you don't use notify() ...lock will be released only after you do all your sumthings..

How to use wait and notify in Java without IllegalMonitorStateException?

I have 2 matrices and I need to multiply them and then print the results of each cell. As soon as one cell is ready I need to print it, but for example I need to print the [0][0] cell before cell [2][0] even if the result of [2][0] is ready first. So I need to print it by order.
So my idea is to make the printer thread wait until the multiplyThread notifies it that the correct cell is ready to be printed and then the printerThread will print the cell and go back to waiting and so on..
So I have this thread that does the multiplication:
public void run()
{
int countNumOfActions = 0; // How many multiplications have we done
int maxActions = randomize(); // Maximum number of actions allowed
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
{
result[rowNum][colNum] = result[rowNum][colNum] + row[i] * col[i];
countNumOfActions++;
// Reached the number of allowed actions
if (countNumOfActions >= maxActions)
{
countNumOfActions = 0;
maxActions = randomize();
yield();
}
}
isFinished[rowNum][colNum] = true;
notify();
}
Thread that prints the result of each cell:
public void run()
{
int j = 0; // Columns counter
int i = 0; // Rows counter
System.out.println("The result matrix of the multiplication is:");
while (i < creator.getmThreads().length)
{
synchronized (this)
{
try
{
this.wait();
}
catch (InterruptedException e1)
{
}
}
if (creator.getmThreads()[i][j].getIsFinished()[i][j] == true)
{
if (j < creator.getmThreads()[i].length)
{
System.out.print(creator.getResult()[i][j] + " ");
j++;
}
else
{
System.out.println();
j = 0;
i++;
System.out.print(creator.getResult()[i][j] + " ");
}
}
}
Now it throws me these exceptions:
Exception in thread "Thread-9" java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at multiplyThread.run(multiplyThread.java:49)
Exception in thread "Thread-6" Exception in thread "Thread-4" java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at multiplyThread.run(multiplyThread.java:49)
java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at multiplyThread.run(multiplyThread.java:49)
Exception in thread "Thread-5" java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at multiplyThread.run(multiplyThread.java:49)
Exception in thread "Thread-8" java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at multiplyThread.run(multiplyThread.java:49)
Exception in thread "Thread-7" java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at multiplyThread.run(multiplyThread.java:49)
Exception in thread "Thread-11" java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at multiplyThread.run(multiplyThread.java:49)
Exception in thread "Thread-10" java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at multiplyThread.run(multiplyThread.java:49)
Exception in thread "Thread-12" java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException
at java.lang.Object.notify(Native Method)
at multiplyThread.run(multiplyThread.java:49)
line 49 in multiplyThread is the "notify()"..I think I need to use the synchronized differently but I am not sure how.
If anyone can help this code to work I will really appreciate it.

To be able to call notify() you need to synchronize on the same object.
synchronized (someObject) {
someObject.wait();
}
/* different thread / object */
synchronized (someObject) {
someObject.notify();
}

While using the wait and notify or notifyAll methods in Java the following things must be remembered:
Use notifyAll instead of notify if you expect that more than one thread will be waiting for a lock.
The wait and notify methods must be called in a synchronized context. See the link for a more detailed explanation.
Always call the wait() method in a loop because if multiple threads are waiting for a lock and one of them got the lock and reset the condition, then the other threads need to check the condition after they wake up to see whether they need to wait again or can start processing.
Use the same object for calling wait() and notify() method; every object has its own lock so calling wait() on object A and notify() on object B will not make any sense.

Do you need to thread this at all ? I'm wondering how big your matrices are, and whether there's any benefit in having one thread print whilst the other does the multiplication.
Perhaps it would be worth measuring this time before doing the relatively complex threading work ?
If you do need to thread it, I would create 'n' threads to perform the multiplication of the cells (perhaps 'n' is the number of cores available to you), and then use the ExecutorService and Future mechanism to dispatch multiple multiplications simultaneously.
That way you can optimise the work based on the number of cores, and you're using the higher level Java threading tools (which should make life easier). Write the results back into a receiving matrix, and then simply print this once all your Future tasks have completed.

Let's say you have 'black box' application with some class named BlackBoxClass that has method doSomething();.
Further, you have observer or listener named onResponse(String resp) that will be called by BlackBoxClass after unknown time.
The flow is simple:
private String mResponse = null;
...
BlackBoxClass bbc = new BlackBoxClass();
bbc.doSomething();
...
#override
public void onResponse(String resp){
mResponse = resp;
}
Lets say we don't know what is going on with BlackBoxClass and when we should get answer but you don't want to continue your code till you get answer or in other word get onResponse call. Here enters 'Synchronize helper':
public class SyncronizeObj {
public void doWait(long l){
synchronized(this){
try {
this.wait(l);
} catch(InterruptedException e) {
}
}
}
public void doNotify() {
synchronized(this) {
this.notify();
}
}
public void doWait() {
synchronized(this){
try {
this.wait();
} catch(InterruptedException e) {
}
}
}
}
Now we can implement what we want:
public class Demo {
private String mResponse = null;
...
SyncronizeObj sync = new SyncronizeObj();
public void impl(){
BlackBoxClass bbc = new BlackBoxClass();
bbc.doSomething();
if(mResponse == null){
sync.doWait();
}
/** at this momoent you sure that you got response from BlackBoxClass because
onResponse method released your 'wait'. In other cases if you don't want wait too
long (for example wait data from socket) you can use doWait(time)
*/
...
}
#override
public void onResponse(String resp){
mResponse = resp;
sync.doNotify();
}
}

You can only call notify on objects where you own their monitor. So you need something like
synchronized(threadObject)
{
threadObject.notify();
}

notify() needs to be synchronized as well

I'll right simple example show you the right way to use wait and notify in Java.
So I'll create two class named ThreadA & ThreadB. ThreadA will call ThreadB.
public class ThreadA {
public static void main(String[] args){
ThreadB b = new ThreadB();//<----Create Instance for seconde class
b.start();//<--------------------Launch thread
synchronized(b){
try{
System.out.println("Waiting for b to complete...");
b.wait();//<-------------WAIT until the finish thread for class B finish
}catch(InterruptedException e){
e.printStackTrace();
}
System.out.println("Total is: " + b.total);
}
}
}
and for Class ThreadB:
class ThreadB extends Thread{
int total;
#Override
public void run(){
synchronized(this){
for(int i=0; i<100 ; i++){
total += i;
}
notify();//<----------------Notify the class wich wait until my finish
//and tell that I'm finish
}
}
}

Simple use if you want How to execute threads alternatively :-
public class MyThread {
public static void main(String[] args) {
final Object lock = new Object();
new Thread(() -> {
try {
synchronized (lock) {
for (int i = 0; i <= 5; i++) {
System.out.println(Thread.currentThread().getName() + ":" + "A");
lock.notify();
lock.wait();
}
}
} catch (Exception e) {}
}, "T1").start();
new Thread(() -> {
try {
synchronized (lock) {
for (int i = 0; i <= 5; i++) {
System.out.println(Thread.currentThread().getName() + ":" + "B");
lock.notify();
lock.wait();
}
}
} catch (Exception e) {}
}, "T2").start();
}
}
response :-
T1:A
T2:B
T1:A
T2:B
T1:A
T2:B
T1:A
T2:B
T1:A
T2:B
T1:A
T2:B

we can call notify to resume the execution of waiting objects as
public synchronized void guardedJoy() {
// This guard only loops once for each special event, which may not
// be the event we're waiting for.
while(!joy) {
try {
wait();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {}
}
System.out.println("Joy and efficiency have been achieved!");
}
resume this by invoking notify on another object of same class
public synchronized notifyJoy() {
joy = true;
notifyAll();
}

For this particular problem, why not store up your various results in variables and then when the last of your thread is processed you can print in whatever format you want. This is especially useful if you are gonna be using your work history in other projects.

This looks like a situation for producer-consumer pattern. If you’re using java 5 or up, you may consider using blocking queue(java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue) and leave the thread coordination work to the underlying framework/api implementation.
See the example from
java 5:
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/api/java/util/concurrent/BlockingQueue.html
or java 7 (same example):
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/concurrent/BlockingQueue.html

You have properly guarded your code block when you call wait() method by using synchronized(this).
But you have not taken same precaution when you call notify() method without using guarded block : synchronized(this) or synchronized(someObject)
If you refer to oracle documentation page on Object class, which contains wait() ,notify(), notifyAll() methods, you can see below precaution in all these three methods
This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor
Many things have been changed in last 7 years and let's have look into other alternatives to synchronized in below SE questions:
Why use a ReentrantLock if one can use synchronized(this)?
Synchronization vs Lock
Avoid synchronized(this) in Java?