In Java, each thread has its own working memory, which can cause discrepancies when sharing variables across threads.Without the 'volatile' keyword, threads may not see the most recent value of a shared variable due to caching.Using 'volatile' ensures that every read and write operation on a variable is visible to all threads.Volatile fields in Java help in synchronizing the visibility of shared variables across threads.Volatile doesn't provide atomicity; it only guarantees the visibility of the most recent value.Volatile is useful for simple communication between threads, such as signaling the status.Memory barriers are introduced by the JVM when dealing with volatile variables to control memory reads and writes.Volatile alone is not sufficient for complex operations that require atomicity; atomic classes or locks are needed.For scenarios where the whole process from read to write needs to be uninterrupted, volatile is not suitable.In cases where atomicity is crucial, such as incrementing shared variables safely, volatile is not the appropriate solution.