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The Art Of Micro-Benchmarking In Java - Tutorial

The Art Of Micro-Benchmarking In Java - Tutorial  
 
 
ABSTRACT
 
 
The performance model of Java is comparably complex, despite of Java's reputation of a relatively simple programming language. The compiler and the runtime system apply complex and ambituous optimization techniques in order to improve your Java application's performance.  The flipside of the coin is that it is close to impossible to judge performance issues in Java by intuition.  This makes it difficult to write a meaningful benchmark for comparison of the performance of two algorithms in Java.

In this tutorial we aim to illustrate the "Do's and Don't's" of writing a micro-benchmark in Java.  Especially JVMs with HotSpot technology, which are the norm these days, offer countless opportunities for making fatal mistakes.  Just to name a typical one:  often the code segment whose performance is supposed to be measured falls victim of the so-called "dead code elimination", which means: the compiler optimizes it away.  Hence, what is measured is the performance of "nothing".  The affected micro-benchmark will still yield a result, but it is meaningless.

In the tutorial we discuss this and several other mistakes, using a case study for illustration and derive guidelines for successful micro-benchmarking in Java. In a workshop setting with opportunity for hands-on labs the attendants will have a chance to implement a micro-benchmark themselves, thereby exploring the intricacies of performance measurement in Java.  We will also review a given micro-benchmark, scrutinize and improve it until it yields meaningful results.

 
 
PREREQUISITES

 
 
Level: intermediate / advanced
Duration: 1-3 hours
Prerequisites: Attendants should be familiar with Java.
Presented at: Experten Forum Stuttgart , Stuttgart, Germany, July 7, 2006
JAOO , Aarhus, Denmark, October 3, 2006
 

If you are interested to hear more about this and related topics you might want to check out the following seminar or skim through some further reading:
Seminars
 
course abstract High-Performance Java
4 day seminar (open enrollment and on-site)
 
References (mentioned in the presentation)
 
references and links Java Performance - Tools and Tips
References and Links
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