Improve the performance of Java apps

There are numerous elements that affect the performance of your Java applications. Understanding them and making the appropriate choices suitable for your specific application requirements can dramatically improve performance in extremely cost-effective ways.

1. Platform choices
2. Library choices
3. System Configuration choices

Platform choices

It may seem obvious, but with additional memory and faster memory, processors, networking, and disks your application will run faster.

However, what may seem obvious, may also not be true.

There is an old adage, “nine women can’t create a baby in a month”, and this holds true for processing. If your application relies on disk performance, its speed may not improve with a faster processor or more expensive memory. As well, if your app has to send requests over the network to a different app and wait for responses, then the amount of time it takes to complete the processes may be dependent on that second app.

On the other hand, additional processor power, faster networking speeds, or primary/secondary memory may make a huge improvement for some applications.

The answer is that it depends.

Library choices

When you build your Java app, you will have to decide what code libraries to use. There are many choices; there are the standard libraries, JHispster, Maven, Apache Commons, Guava, google-gson, Hibernate-ORM, Mockito, Junit, Log4j, Slf4j, and many, many more. Each library contributes code that will impact your app performance. Depending on the specifics of your application, some will be faster for your implementation than others. Deciding on which library to use can seem like a never-ending task, but spending the time to learn and test a number of available choices can be one of the best ways to ensure your app’s performance is aligned with your requirements.

System Configuration choices

There are many attributes of your Java environment that can be adjusted. Basic things like Garbage Collection (GC), the processes by which Java manages memory, can have a dramatic effect on the performance of your Java virtual machines (JVM).

Adjusting the Java runtime, virtual machine, and High Availability (HA) settings, the heap, and more will change how your specific apps run.

CyBench

The key is that with careful tuning, your apps can run dramatically faster without the need for system investments.

With Nastel Cybench you can speed-test each element of your Java app (Micro benchmarks) and store the results, allowing you to compare how your app performs for a different platform, library, and configuration choices. You can then compare this different benchmark, document what is most effective, and provide these results to your team as documented evidence of the choices you made.

There is no faster way to get to documented optimal performance for Java apps than Nastel CyBench.

Try it for yourself (for free) here.