Visualization and analysis of phased behavior in Java programs

Abstract

To enable analysis and visualization of phased behavior in Java programs and to facilitate optimization development, we have implemented a freely-available, phase analysis framework within JikesRVM. The framework couples existing techniques into a unifying set of tools for data collection, processing, and analysis of dynamic phased behavior in Java programs. The framework enables program and optimization developers to significantly reduce analysis time and target optimization (by-hand or automatic) to parts of the code that will recur with sufficient regularity. We use the framework to evaluate phased behavior in the SpecJVM benchmark suite.