Dinesh on Java

In this tutorial we will explain how to garbage collector work in JVM. In the first tutorial of garbage collector we have seen what is garbage collection in java and its related some methods. In Java, allocation and de-allocation of memory space for objects are done by the garbage collection process in an automated way by the JVM.

Java Memory Management

Java Memory Management, with its built-in garbage collection, is one of the language’s finest achievements. It allows developers to create new objects without worrying explicitly about memory allocation and deallocation, because the garbage collector automatically reclaims memory for reuse. This enables faster development with less boilerplate code, while eliminating memory leaks and other memory-related problems. At least in theory.

Ironically, Java garbage collection seems to work too well, creating and removing too many objects. Most memory-management issues are solved, but often at the cost of creating serious performance problems. Making garbage collection adaptable to all kinds of situations has led to a complex and hard-to-optimize system. In order to wrap your head around garbage collection, you need first to understand how memory management works in a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

Java Garbage Collection GC Initiation

Being an automatic process, programmers need not initiate the garbage collection process explicitly in the code. System.gc() and Runtime.gc() are hooks to request the JVM to initiate the garbage collection process.

Though this request mechanism provides an opportunity for the programmer to initiate the process but the onus is on the JVM. It can choose to reject the request and so it is not guaranteed that these calls will do the garbage collection. This decision is taken by the JVM based on the eden space availability in heap memory. The JVM specification leaves this choice to the implementation and so these details are implementation specific.

Undoubtedly we know that the garbage collection process cannot be forced. I just found out a scenario when invoking System.gc() makes sense. Just go through this article to know about this corner case when System.gc() invocation is applicable.

Java Garbage Collection Process

Garbage collection is the process of reclaiming the unused memory space and making it available for the future instances.

Eden Space:

When an instance is created, it is first stored in the eden space in young generation of heap memory area.

Survivor Space (S0 and S1):

As part of the minor garbage collection cycle, objects that are live (which is still referenced) are moved to survivor space S0 from eden space. Similarly the garbage collector scans S0 and moves the live instances to S1.

Instances that are not live (dereferenced) are marked for garbage collection. Depending on the garbage collector (there are four types of garbage collectors available and we will see about them in the next tutorial) chosen either the marked instances will be removed from memory on the go or the eviction process will be done in a separate process.

Old Generation:

Old or tenured generation is the second logical part of the heap memory. When the garbage collector does the minor GC cycle, instances that are still live in the S1 survivor space will be promoted to the old generation. Objects that are dereferenced in the S1 space is marked for eviction.

Major GC:

Old generation is the last phase in the instance life cycle with respect to the Java garbage collection process. Major GC is the garbage collection process that scans the old generation part of the heap memory. If instances are dereferenced, then they are marked for eviction and if not they just continue to stay in the old generation.

Memory Fragmentation:

Once the instances are deleted from the heap memory the location becomes empty and becomes available for future allocation of live instances. These empty spaces will be fragmented across the memory area. For quicker allocation of the instance it should be defragmented. Based on the choice of the garbage collector, the reclaimed memory area will either be compacted on the go or will be done in a separate pass of the GC.