Introduction to the Memory Leak Detector

The Memory Leak Detector is a plug-in to JRockit Mission Control and detects memory leaks within Java applications running on the Oracle JRockit JVM. A memory leak means that application code is holding on to memory that is not used by the application any more. The Memory Leak Detector is a real-time profiling tool providing information about what type of objects are allocated, how many, of what size, and how they relate to each other.

Unlike other similar tools, there is no need to create full heap dumps for off-line analysis. The Memory Leak Detector fetches its data directly from the running JVM, which can continue to run with a relatively small overhead. When the analysis is done, the tool can be disconnected and the JVM will run at full speed again. This makes the tool viable for use in a production environment.

The purpose of the Memory Leak Detector is to display memory leaking types and provide help to track the source of the problem. Another purpose of this tool is to help increase the understanding and knowledge of how an application is performing in order to improve programming practices in future projects.