# Example of threads sharing a statement

This example shows what can happen if two threads try to share a single Statement.

    PreparedStatement ps = conn.prepareStatement(
        "UPDATE account SET balance =  balance + ? WHERE id = ?");
    /* now assume two threads T1,T2 are given this
    java.sql.PreparedStatement object and that the following events
    happen in the order shown (pseudojava code)*/
    T1 - ps.setBigDecimal(1, 100.00);
    T1 - ps.setLong(2, 1234);
    T2 -  ps.setBigDecimal(1, -500.00);
    // *** At this point the prepared statement has the parameters
    // -500.00 and 1234
    // T1 thinks it is adding 100.00 to account 1234 but actually
    // it is subtracting 500.00
    T1 - ps.executeUpdate();
    T2 - ps.setLong(2, 5678);
    // T2 executes the correct update
     T2 - ps.executeUpdate();
    /* Also, the auto-commit mode of the connection can lead
    to some strange behavior.*/

If it is absolutely necessary, the application can get around this problem with Java synchronization.

If the threads each obtain their own PreparedStatement (with identical text), their `setXXX` calls do not interfere with each other. Moreover, Derby is able to share the same compiled query plan between the two statements; it needs to maintain only separate state information. However, there is the potential for confusion in regard to the timing of the commit, since a single commit commits all the statements in a transaction.

Parent topic: Working with multiple threads sharing a single connection
Related concepts
Pitfalls of sharing a connection among threads
Multi-thread programming tips