In Java SE 17, when the notify() method is called, does that mean the lock becomes available at that moment?
Answer:
In Java SE 17, the behavior of the `notify()` method, as part of the object monitoring mechanism, has not changed from its fundamental design in the Java language. When `notify()` is called on an object, it signals one of the threads that is waiting on that object's monitor (which had previously called `wait()` on the same object) to wake up from the wait set. However, this does not mean the lock becomes immediately available at the moment `notify()` is called.
The thread that invoked `notify()` still holds the lock until it exits the synchronized block or method, at which point the lock is released. Only after the lock is released can the notified thread begin to compete for the lock with any other threads that might also be waiting to acquire the same lock. If the notified thread acquires the lock (because it happens to be the next thread scheduled by the thread scheduler), it will then move out of the wait set and re-enter the synchronized block or method where it was waiting.
It is critical to understand that the `notify()` method itself does not release the lock; the lock is only released when the synchronized block or method has completed, or when `wait()`, `join()`, or `sleep()` is invoked within the block, which explicitly relinquishes the lock for the duration of these methods' operations.
If the thread is still completing the code within a synchronized block, the lock is not released until the thread moves out of the synchronized block.