As Java technology becomes more and more pervasive in the telecommunications (telco) industry, understanding the behavior of the garbage collector becomes more important. Typically, telco applications are near-real-time applications. Delays measured in milliseconds are not usually a problem, but delays of hundreds of milliseconds, let alone seconds, can spell trouble for applications of this kind. Quite simply, sub-optimal performance translates directly into loss of revenue.
Critics usually point to inefficient garbage collection (GC) as a reason why these types of applications cannot perform well if developed using Java technology. This paper challenges that accusation, and asserts that developers can improve performance significantly, and describes analytical and modeling strategies that will result in acceptable application performance.
