JEP 192: String Deduplication in G1 implemented in Java 8 Update 20 added the new String deduplication feature:
Reduce the Java heap live-data set by enhancing the G1 garbage collector so that duplicate instances of String are automatically and continuously deduplicated.
The JEP page mentions that a command-line option UseStringDeduplication (bool) allows the dedup feature to be enabled or disabled. But the JEP page does not go so far as to indicate the default.
➠ Is the dedup feature ON or OFF by default in the G1 garbage collector bundled with Java 8 and with Java 9?
➠ Is there a “getter” method to verify the current setting at runtime?
I do not know where to look for documentation beyond the JEP page.
In at least the HotSpot-equipped implementations of Java 9, the G1 garbage collector is enabled by default. That fact prompted this Question now. For more info on String interning and deduplication, see this 2014-10 presentation by Aleksey Shipilev at 29:00.
String deduplication off by default
For the versions of Java 8 and Java 9 seen below, UseStringDeduplication is false (disabled) by default.
One way to verify the feature setting: list out all the final flags for JVM and then look for it.
build 1.8.0_131-b11
$ java -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+UnlockDiagnosticVMOptions -XX:+PrintFlagsFinal -version | grep -i 'duplicat'
bool PrintStringDeduplicationStatistics = false {product}
uintx StringDeduplicationAgeThreshold = 3 {product}
bool StringDeduplicationRehashALot = false {diagnostic}
bool StringDeduplicationResizeALot = false {diagnostic}
bool UseStringDeduplication = false {product}
java version "1.8.0_131"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_131-b11)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.131-b11, mixed mode)
build 9+18
$ java -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+UnlockDiagnosticVMOptions -XX:+PrintFlagsFinal -version | grep -i 'duplicat'
uintx StringDeduplicationAgeThreshold = 3 {product} {default}
bool StringDeduplicationRehashALot = false {diagnostic} {default}
bool StringDeduplicationResizeALot = false {diagnostic} {default}
bool UseStringDeduplication = false {product} {default}
java version "9"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 9+181)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 9+181, mixed mode)
Another way to test it is with
package jvm;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
public class StringDeDuplicationTester {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
List<String> strings = new ArrayList<>();
while (true) {
for (int i = 0; i < 100_00; i++) {
strings.add(new String("String " + i));
}
Thread.sleep(100);
}
}
}
run without explicitly specifying it.
$ java -Xmx256m -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+PrintStringDeduplicationStatistics jvm.StringDeDuplicationTester
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
at jvm.StringDeDuplicationTester.main(StringDeDuplicationTester.java:12)
Run with explicitly turning it ON.
$ java -Xmx256m -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+UseStringDeduplication -XX:+PrintStringDeduplicationStatistics jvm.StringDeDuplicationTester
[GC concurrent-string-deduplication, 5116.7K->408.7K(4708.0K), avg 92.0%, 0.0246084 secs]
[Last Exec: 0.0246084 secs, Idle: 1.7075173 secs, Blocked: 0/0.0000000 secs]
[Inspected: 130568]
[Skipped: 0( 0.0%)]
[Hashed: 130450( 99.9%)]
[Known: 0( 0.0%)]
[New: 130568(100.0%) 5116.7K]
[Deduplicated: 120388( 92.2%) 4708.0K( 92.0%)]
[Young: 0( 0.0%) 0.0B( 0.0%)]
[Old: 120388(100.0%) 4708.0K(100.0%)]
[Total Exec: 1/0.0246084 secs, Idle: 1/1.7075173 secs, Blocked: 0/0.0000000 secs]
[Inspected: 130568]
[Skipped: 0( 0.0%)]
[Hashed: 130450( 99.9%)]
[Known: 0( 0.0%)]
[New: 130568(100.0%) 5116.7K]
[Deduplicated: 120388( 92.2%) 4708.0K( 92.0%)]
[Young: 0( 0.0%) 0.0B( 0.0%)]
[Old: 120388(100.0%) 4708.0K(100.0%)]
[Table]
[Memory Usage: 264.9K]
[Size: 1024, Min: 1024, Max: 16777216]
[Entries: 10962, Load: 1070.5%, Cached: 0, Added: 10962, Removed: 0]
[Resize Count: 0, Shrink Threshold: 682(66.7%), Grow Threshold: 2048(200.0%)]
[Rehash Count: 0, Rehash Threshold: 120, Hash Seed: 0x0]
[Age Threshold: 3]
[Queue]
[Dropped: 0]
[GC concurrent-string-deduplication, deleted 0 entries, 0.0000008 secs]
...
output truncated
Note: this output is from build 1.8.0_131-b11. Looks like Java 9 has no option to print String de-duplication statistics. Potential bug ?
No. Unified logging killed this specific option.
$ java -Xmx256m -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+PrintStringDeduplicationStatistics -version
Unrecognized VM option 'PrintStringDeduplicationStatistics'
Error: Could not create the Java Virtual Machine.
Error: A fatal exception has occurred. Program will exit.