How can I implement the Singleton pattern in the Java programming language? 

Answer: After further investigation, and consultation with a local expert, the code previously on this page has been corrected as follows: 

public class Singleton {
    private static final Singleton INSTANCE = 
                              new Singleton();

   // Private constructor supresses 
   // default public constructor
    private Singleton( ) {
    }

    public static Singleton getInstance( ) {
        return INSTANCE;
    }
 }

If you want to make it serializable, then change the declaration to:

public class Singleton implements Serializable

and add this method: 

    private Object readResolve() 
             throws ObjectStreamException {
        return INSTANCE;
    }

The readResolve method serves to prevent the release of multiple instances upon deserialization.