class CachedData { Object data; volatile boolean cacheValid; ReentrantReadWriteLock rwl = new ReentrantReadWriteLock(); void processCachedData() { rwl.readLock().lock(); if (!cacheValid) { // Must release read lock before acquiring write lock rwl.readLock().unlock(); rwl.writeLock().lock(); // Recheck state because another thread might have acquired // write lock and changed state before we did. if (!cacheValid) { data = ... cacheValid = true; } // Downgrade by acquiring read lock before releasing write lock rwl.readLock().lock(); rwl.writeLock().unlock(); // Unlock write, still hold read } use(data); rwl.readLock().unlock(); } }