High Performance JVM

Java bytecode is the JVM instruction set, and it’s the language that Java and JVM-compatible code is compiled into. A byte represents a single instruction, so it compacts the data. Java programmers don’t need to understand Java bytecode, and a Java bytecode application typically runs very consistently across all your configurations and combinations of hardware and software.

Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK) is an open-source project from Sun Microsystems and now Oracle, which builds the JVM reference implementation. It includes Hotspot, a just-in-time (JIT) compiler, which compiles the code at run time, rather than before the execution. This process allows adaptive optimization. Oracle Java SE’s commercially supported releases are based on the OpenJDK runtime.

The JVM is part of the Java runtime environment, which includes the JVM, core libraries, and other components that you’ll need to run Java applications. You can only run Java applications inside an implementation of the JVM, which interprets and executes the Java bytecode. The JVM handles garbage collection, which provides automatic memory management by reclaiming the memory used by objects that are no longer needed.

You need a high-performance JVM in Java development to improve Java application performance and reduce cloud waste without re-compiling any code or re-architecture.

A high-performance JVM is defined in three ways:

1. JDK Characteristics – including code execution speed, start-up and warm-up, execution consistency, and memory footprint.
2. External Services – including JIT compilation and caching and centralized distribution of optimization profiles.
3. Compatibility – including Java SE specification compliant, Java version(s) support, and existing code and library combatibility.

Common features of a high-performance JVM include:

• TCK-compliant, where no code changes or re-compilation are required by developers to ensure smooth DevOps workflows.
• Faster start-up and warm-up for modern applications running containers, elastic, or auto-scaling cloud environments.
• Faster code with real-time JVM optimization with LLVM-based JIT compiler.
• Pauseless garbage collection for latency-sensitive application processing that eliminates pauses, jitters or time-outs when reclaiming memory.
• Offload JIT compilation to a centralized cloud-based service to enhance performance in any cloud environment.
• Reduce wasted code by immediately discovering what code optimizations are necessary by the Java workload – rather than waiting for code to be executed before it is optimized for speed.

Azul’s high-performance Java platform provides superior speed, start-up and warm-up, and consistency vs. other OpenJDK distributions to increase responsiveness, optimize compute and boost operational efficiency – all without recompiling or changing application code.

How does Azul Platform Prime provide Java developers with a high-performance JVM? Platform Prime includes Azul Zing, an award-winning enhanced build of OpenJDK, designed to provide superior application performance, responsiveness, and efficiency. Prime can reduce your infrastructure costs by over 20%, by reducing your cloud waste, using your committed cloud spend, improving carrying capacity, and maintaining service levels for your growing workloads.

Platform Prime provides you with the following advantages:

• Application performance and latency improvement: You can improve your application responsiveness and consistency and maintain your performance SLAs, even as loads increase. This includes custom code and your Java infrastructure, including the support of technologies like Kafka, Cassandra, and Elasticsearch.
• Infrastructure and cloud cost optimization: You can reduce your cloud compute costs by over 20% on average. With faster Java code execution, you’ll have fewer compute resources needed for the same workloads.
• DevOps productivity and efficiency: You’ll be able to build and deliver new features faster, with reduced time spent coding to optimize your apps’ performance issues, as well as reduced time responding to operational tickets against your live applications.

To learn more about how Platform Prime can provide you with a high-performance JVM, see Azul Platform Prime: High Performance JVM.