通常在方法级别上使用锁是不礼貌的。为什么要通过锁定整个方法来锁定一段不能访问任何共享资源的代码呢?因为每个对象都有一个锁，所以可以创建虚拟对象来实现块级同步。 块级的效率更高，因为它不锁定整个方法。

这里有一些例子

方法级

class MethodLevel {

  //shared among threads
SharedResource x, y ;

public void synchronized method1() {
   //multiple threads can't access
}
public void synchronized method2() {
  //multiple threads can't access
}

 public void method3() {
  //not synchronized
  //multiple threads can access
 }
}

块级别

class BlockLevel {
  //shared among threads
  SharedResource x, y ;

  //dummy objects for locking
  Object xLock = new Object();
  Object yLock = new Object();

    public void method1() {
     synchronized(xLock){
    //access x here. thread safe
    }

    //do something here but don't use SharedResource x, y
    // because will not be thread-safe
     synchronized(xLock) {
       synchronized(yLock) {
      //access x,y here. thread safe
      }
     }

     //do something here but don't use SharedResource x, y
     //because will not be thread-safe
    }//end of method1
 }

(编辑)

对于像Vector和Hashtable这样的集合，当ArrayList或HashMap不同步时，它们是同步的，你需要设置synchronized关键字或调用Collections synchronized方法:

Map myMap = Collections.synchronizedMap (myMap); // single lock for the entire map
List myList = Collections.synchronizedList (myList); // single lock for the entire list

使用同步块，您可以有多个同步器，因此多个同时但不冲突的事情可以同时进行。

As already said here synchronized block can use user-defined variable as lock object, when synchronized function uses only "this". And of course you can manipulate with areas of your function which should be synchronized. But everyone says that no difference between synchronized function and block which covers whole function using "this" as lock object. That is not true, difference is in byte code which will be generated in both situations. In case of synchronized block usage should be allocated local variable which holds reference to "this". And as result we will have a little bit larger size for function (not relevant if you have only few number of functions).

你可以在这里找到更详细的解释: http://www.artima.com/insidejvm/ed2/threadsynchP.html

唯一真正的区别是同步块可以选择在哪个对象上同步。同步方法只能使用'this'(或同步类方法的相应Class实例)。例如，它们在语义上是等价的:

synchronized void foo() {
  ...
}

void foo() {
    synchronized (this) {
      ...
    }
}

后者更灵活，因为它可以竞争任何对象(通常是成员变量)的关联锁。它也更细粒度，因为您可以在块之前和块之后执行并发代码，但仍然在方法中。当然，您也可以通过将并发代码重构为单独的非同步方法来轻松地使用同步方法。使用任何使代码更容易理解的方法。

在同步方法的情况下，锁将在对象上获得。但是如果你使用同步块，你可以选择指定一个对象来获取锁。

例子:

    Class Example {
    String test = "abc";
    // lock will be acquired on String  test object.
    synchronized (test) {
        // do something
    }

   lock will be acquired on Example Object
   public synchronized void testMethod() {
     // do some thing
   } 

   }

谁能告诉我同步方法比同步块的优势与一个例子?谢谢。

与块相比，使用同步方法并没有明显的优势。

也许唯一的一点(但我不认为这是优点)是您不需要包含对象引用this。

方法:

public synchronized void method() { // blocks "this" from here.... 
    ...
    ...
    ...
} // to here

布洛克:

public void method() { 
    synchronized( this ) { // blocks "this" from here .... 
        ....
        ....
        ....
    }  // to here...
}

看到了吗?一点好处都没有。

块确实比方法有优势，主要是灵活性，因为你可以使用另一个对象作为锁，而同步方法将锁定整个对象。

比较:

// locks the whole object
... 
private synchronized void someInputRelatedWork() {
    ... 
}
private synchronized void someOutputRelatedWork() {
    ... 
}

vs.

// Using specific locks
Object inputLock = new Object();
Object outputLock = new Object();

private void someInputRelatedWork() {
    synchronized(inputLock) { 
        ... 
    } 
}
private void someOutputRelatedWork() {
    synchronized(outputLock) { 
        ... 
    }
}

另外，如果方法增长了，你仍然可以保持同步段的分离:

 private void method() {
     ... code here
     ... code here
     ... code here
    synchronized( lock ) { 
        ... very few lines of code here
    }
     ... code here
     ... code here
     ... code here
     ... code here
}