CODEWITHSUNDEEP
java
FooBar
FooBar

Reputation: 1793

Ways to work around a memory leak in Java

I'm building a large import script that uses functionality from a separate code base that I suspect of having a memory leak. It calls the code base as many as 10000 times for the same operations and while the first is relatively quick (2 sec) the script is requiring a long time to run (over 100 hours and counting) and by the end the same task is up to 60 sec or more (and still climbing). What is the best way to work around this while the leaks are found and fixed?

Some solutions that have been brainstormed would be:

Create a process that runs a part of the script then end it, reclaiming the resources it used.

Use a shell script to launch the program multiple times completing a sub-set of the tasks each time and have the updated data output to file to be used by the next iteration

edit: Changed the way the question was phrased to make it clear that the import and the code base are separate programs

Upvotes: 0

Views: 126

Answers (2)

FooBar
FooBar

Reputation: 1793

I solved this issue by minimizing the scope that contains references to the other codebase. Basically every time I initialize an object or call a function from the other codebase I went through hoops to make sure it existed for the minimal time possible. Often setting references again to NULL in order to make sure all references were removed.

This ended up working excellently, reduced the time from over 150 hours and counting to under 30.

Upvotes: 0

Stephen C
Stephen C

Reputation: 718798

You know, none of the evidence you have presented clearly points to a storage leak. The real problem could be something completely different, like a poorly designed algorithm, or a poorly tuned database table or query.

Assuming that this is a storage leak and applying "band-aid" solutions could be a waste of time, or actually make the problem worse.

You will be better off spending the time up front to determine what the real problem is and fix it, rather than trying a series of workarounds ... which may turn out to be futile.

Upvotes: 2

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