Because a singleton only allows one instance to be created it effectively controls instance replication. for example you'd not need multiple instances of a lookup - a morse lookup map for example, thus wrapping it in a singleton class is apt. And just because you have a single instance of the class does not mean you are also limited on the number of references to that instance. You can queue calls(to avoid threading issues) to the instance and effect changes necessary. Yes, the general form of a singleton is a globally public one, you can certainly modify the design to create a more access restricted singleton. I haven't tired this before but I sure know it is possible. And to all those who commented saying the singleton pattern is utterly evil you should know this: yes it is evil if you do not use it properly or within it confines of effective functionality and predictable behavior: do not GENERALIZE.

单例基本上让你在语言中拥有复杂的全局状态，否则就很难或不可能拥有复杂的全局变量。

Java特别使用单例变量作为全局变量的替代品，因为所有内容都必须包含在类中。最接近全局变量的是公共静态变量，它们可以像导入静态的全局变量一样使用

c++确实有全局变量，但是调用全局类变量的构造函数的顺序未定义。因此，单例可以让您推迟全局变量的创建，直到第一次需要该变量。

Python和Ruby等语言很少使用单例，因为您可以在模块中使用全局变量。

那么什么时候使用单例对象是好的/坏的呢?差不多就是什么时候使用全局变量是好是坏。

另一个实现

class Singleton
{
public:
    static Singleton& Instance()
    {
        // lazy initialize
        if (instance_ == NULL) instance_ = new Singleton();

        return *instance_;
    }

private:
    Singleton() {};

    static Singleton *instance_;
};

大多数人在试图让自己对使用全局变量感觉良好时使用单例变量。有合法的使用，但大多数时候，当人们使用它们时，只能有一个实例的事实，与它是全局可访问的事实相比，只是一个微不足道的事实。

单例对象的问题不在于它们的实现。而是它们合并了两个不同的概念，这两个概念显然都不可取。

1)单例提供了对对象的全局访问机制。尽管在没有定义良好的初始化顺序的语言中，它们可能更线程安全或更可靠，但这种用法在道义上仍然相当于全局变量。它是一个用一些笨拙的语法修饰的全局变量(比如说，foo::get_instance()而不是g_foo)，但它具有完全相同的目的(在整个程序中可访问的单个对象)，并且具有完全相同的缺点。

2)单例防止一个类的多个实例化。据我所知，这种特性很少被添加到类中。这通常是一个更有语境的东西;很多被认为是独一无二的东西实际上只是碰巧是独一无二的。在我看来，更合适的解决方案是只创建一个实例——直到您意识到需要多个实例为止。

我认为这是c#最健壮的版本:

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Threading;

namespace DoFactory.GangOfFour.Singleton.RealWorld
{

  // MainApp test application

  class MainApp
  {
    static void Main()
    {
      LoadBalancer b1 = LoadBalancer.GetLoadBalancer();
      LoadBalancer b2 = LoadBalancer.GetLoadBalancer();
      LoadBalancer b3 = LoadBalancer.GetLoadBalancer();
      LoadBalancer b4 = LoadBalancer.GetLoadBalancer();

      // Same instance?
      if (b1 == b2 && b2 == b3 && b3 == b4)
      {
        Console.WriteLine("Same instance\n");
      }

      // All are the same instance -- use b1 arbitrarily
      // Load balance 15 server requests
      for (int i = 0; i < 15; i++)
      {
        Console.WriteLine(b1.Server);
      }

      // Wait for user
      Console.Read();    
    }
  }

  // "Singleton"

  class LoadBalancer
  {
    private static LoadBalancer instance;
    private ArrayList servers = new ArrayList();

    private Random random = new Random();

    // Lock synchronization object
    private static object syncLock = new object();

    // Constructor (protected)
    protected LoadBalancer()
    {
      // List of available servers
      servers.Add("ServerI");
      servers.Add("ServerII");
      servers.Add("ServerIII");
      servers.Add("ServerIV");
      servers.Add("ServerV");
    }

    public static LoadBalancer GetLoadBalancer()
    {
      // Support multithreaded applications through
      // 'Double checked locking' pattern which (once
      // the instance exists) avoids locking each
      // time the method is invoked
      if (instance == null)
      {
        lock (syncLock)
        {
          if (instance == null)
          {
            instance = new LoadBalancer();
          }
        }
      }

      return instance;
    }

    // Simple, but effective random load balancer

    public string Server
    {
      get
      {
        int r = random.Next(servers.Count);
        return servers[r].ToString();
      }
    }
  }
}

下面是. net优化版:

using System;
using System.Collections;

namespace DoFactory.GangOfFour.Singleton.NETOptimized
{

  // MainApp test application

  class MainApp
  {

    static void Main()
    {
      LoadBalancer b1 = LoadBalancer.GetLoadBalancer();
      LoadBalancer b2 = LoadBalancer.GetLoadBalancer();
      LoadBalancer b3 = LoadBalancer.GetLoadBalancer();
      LoadBalancer b4 = LoadBalancer.GetLoadBalancer();

      // Confirm these are the same instance
      if (b1 == b2 && b2 == b3 && b3 == b4)
      {
        Console.WriteLine("Same instance\n");
      }

      // All are the same instance -- use b1 arbitrarily
      // Load balance 15 requests for a server
      for (int i = 0; i < 15; i++)
      {
        Console.WriteLine(b1.Server);
      }

      // Wait for user
      Console.Read();    
    }
  }

  // Singleton

  sealed class LoadBalancer
  {
    // Static members are lazily initialized.
    // .NET guarantees thread safety for static initialization
    private static readonly LoadBalancer instance =
      new LoadBalancer();

    private ArrayList servers = new ArrayList();
    private Random random = new Random();

    // Note: constructor is private.
    private LoadBalancer()
    {
      // List of available servers
      servers.Add("ServerI");
      servers.Add("ServerII");
      servers.Add("ServerIII");
      servers.Add("ServerIV");
      servers.Add("ServerV");
    }

    public static LoadBalancer GetLoadBalancer()
    {
      return instance;
    }

    // Simple, but effective load balancer
    public string Server
    {
      get
      {
        int r = random.Next(servers.Count);
        return servers[r].ToString();
      }
    }
  }
}

你可以在dotfactory.com上找到这个模式。