Comparative Study and measurement of performance of Serial, Parallel and Concurrent Mark Sweep Collectors algorithm on JVM

Abstract

Java Virtual Machine (JVM) works as a software module that executes java application bytecode and translates the byte code into hardware and operating system-specific instructions. By doing so, the JVM enables java program to be executed in different environments. It also performs the function of memory allocation as objects are created and freeing when they are no longer needed. In java programming language, garbage collector automatically manage the objects generated by the keyword new inside Java Virtual machine. But in other programming languages like C/C++ objects created are managed by free or delete. Garbage collection is the process of automatic storage reclamation in which those objects which are no longer referenced from any live objects or from program are collected. One of the advantages of garbage collection is that the garbage collection ensures program integrity. It is an important part of java security strategy. Garbage collectors are becoming the essential part of compilers. Most of the high level languages like java and C# have incorporated garbage collectors for automatic memory management. This study compares three garbage collectors (Serial, Parallel and Concurrent Mark Sweep). After performing different tests, this dissertation work showed that Serial GC is better choice if we have to use single threaded programs and parallel GC is better choice in case of multithreaded.

Keywords: Serial garbage Collector, Parallel Garbage Collector, Concurrent mark Sweep Garbage Collector, Java Virtual Machine, Java Heap Memory.