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JVM performance optimization, Part 4: C4 garbage collection for low-latency Java applications

Boost Java scalability with concurrently compacting garbage collection

By  Eva Andreasson, JavaWorld.com, 11/07/12

Page 7 of 7

G1 is a good alternative if you don't mind tuning and retuning, or frequent restarts, and if your application adapts well to a horizontal deployment model for scale, e.g., hundreds of small instances instead of few larger ones.

BGC is an innovative approach to dynamic low-latency heuristic adaption, something that JVM researchers have worked on for decades. This algorithm allows for slightly larger heap sizes. The downside of a dynamic self-tuning algorithm, is the instance when self-tuning can't keep up with sudden peaks and changes. You will still have to live with worst-case scenarios and allocate resources accordingly.

In the end the choice of best JVM and garbage collector for your application comes down to your priorities. What do you want to spend time and money on? From a purely technical angle,based on a decade of garbage collection experience, I am looking forward to seeing more innovation around concurrent compaction, or perhaps other approaches to moving objects or doing reallocation as a less intrusive operation. I think the key to Java enterprise scalability lies in concurrency.

About the author

Eva Andreasson has been involved with Java virtual machine technologies, SOA, cloud computing, and other enterprise middleware solutions for over 10 years. She joined the startup Appeal Virtual Machines (later acquired by BEA Systems) in 2001 as a developer of the JRockit JVM. Eva has been awarded two patents for garbage collection heuristics and algorithms. She also pioneered Deterministic Garbage Collection which later became productized through JRockit Real Time. Eva has worked closely with Sun and Intel on technical partnerships, as well as various integration projects of JRockit Product Group, WebLogic, and Coherence (post Oracle acquisition in 2008). In 2009 Eva joined Azul Systems as product manager for the new Zing Java Platform. Recently she switched gears and joined the team at Cloudera as senior product manager for Cloudera's Hadoop distribution, where she is engaged in the exciting future and innovation path of highly scalable, distributed data processing frameworks.