Java Application Profiling with the SAP JVM Profiler

This site describes, why resource consumption and profiling is still an issue in Java. For the impatient: If you are already familiar with the related difficulties or Java profilers, you may test the SAP JVM Profiler as described below.

Why profiling?

At first glance Java is a comfortable programming language with regards to resource consumption: There is automatic memory management in place and the VM's just-in-time compiler takes care of generating machine code for fast application execution. Unfortunately this is only half the story. It is still easy to accidentally utilize large amounts of memory and CPU resources in Java. It is up to you as a developer to use inexpensive API calls and use appropriate algorithms and initialization strategies. Only if you have an impression of your application's resource consumption you can assess the scalability of your application in an application server environment.

What's the SAP JVM Profiler good for?

It will help you identify runtime bottlenecks, analyze the memory footprint of your application and find the code causing the problem. Even if you think your application behaves well, it's often valuable to see what happens "under the hood".
The SAP JVM Profiler is pretty easy to use:

• You can switch the Profiler on when ever you want - just start it on demand! There is no "standby overhead" if you are not using it.
• There is no special JVM configuration required. Start your application as usual.
• It's integrated into the NetWeaver Developer Studio or Eclipse IDE. There's no need to switch tools. You can seamlessly develop, debug and profile your code.
• Debugging and profiling via the same connection to the JVM is supported.
• Works reliably with large or long running Java applications.

Want to know more before starting? Check the Features and Benefits page.

What do you need to start?

You need the SAP JVM Profiler backend, frontend and if you like some information:

1. The SAP JVM Profiler backend is integrated in the SAP JVM, which is available with the SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment 7.1 (download the current version 7.2 here).
2. The SAP JVM Profiler frontend is available as Eclipse Plug-in. Download it into your SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio or Eclipse as described here.
3. Check out the quickstart guides to see how to start the analysis of a Java application.
4. Find detailed information about provided analysises and tips and tricks in the Profiler's documentation (PDF, 5 MB).
5. Provide feedback in our blog.