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Windows Swapping with Java Apps

 
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I've noticed that windows does an annoying thing to java apps. At least thats my perspective.

If you run something like eclipse and are using it, you can check the process manager. It will probably show at least 20Meg or so.

If you minimize eclipse or any java apps, the memory drops down after awhile. My assumption is that much of the app is getting swapped out to the hard drive.

When you then go to use the app and maximize it again, you can watch the memory footprint jump as it puts everything back into memory. This ends up taking about 30 seconds or so, before the once responsive java app becomes usuable again.

Linux doesn't appear to suffer from this. Nor do executables that are binaries.

Is there some way to make windows stop this? What about some command line args for the jvm?
 
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i'd say your pc does something evil...I have never seen sth like that on Windows and any java app, including Eclipse

hmmm. My eclipse process takes 60 megs footprint or so. try a newer eclipse version??
 
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I've had the same thing, though I find Windows will do this with all apps when minimised, if you get low enough on RAM. I am surprised it takes so long if Eclipse uses only 20Mb RAM - are your system resources really stretched?

What apps are you comparing it to? I've heard* that some Microsoft apps (eg, IE) "cheat" by being partially loaded by the OS at all times. Either that, or they use a lot of common libraries (DLLs) that never get swapped out. That might account partially for slower responses by Java programs, which don't share libraries in the same way.

My Eclipse process sits around 111 Mb (on a machine with 512 RAM and a fair few apps open at any given time)...it can take a good 20 seconds to be responsive at times.


--Tim

* I really shouldn't bother reading Slashdot, I know...
[ July 20, 2004: Message edited by: Tim West ]
 
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