How does the use of synchronized blocks differ from synchronized methods in Java?

In Java, the synchronized block and synchronized method provide mutual exclusion but differ in scope and flexibility:

• Synchronized method — the entire method is locked on the object (for non-static methods, this is this; for static methods, it is the class). This is convenient when you need to synchronize the entire method.

• Synchronized block — allows you to synchronize only a part of the code inside a method and specify a specific object for locking. This provides finer control and can improve performance if synchronization is only needed for part of the method.

Example:

public void example() {
    // Non-critical section
    synchronized(this) {
        // Critical section
    }
    // Rest of the code
}

public synchronized void exampleMethod() {
    // The entire method is synchronized on this
}

Thus, a synchronized block is more flexible, while a synchronized method is easier to use when full method synchronization is needed.