Bring the action: using GraalVM in production by Alina Yurenko

GraalVM native image can reduce application size by approximately 1/3 and memory usage by 3-5x compared to regular JVM applications

Development best practices:

• Develop on JVM for fast feedback loops
• Compile to native occasionally (e.g. daily/CI)
• Use -O-b flag for faster builds during development
• Use full optimizations (-O3) only for production builds

Three key optimization flags for production:

• PGO (Profile Guided Optimization)
• J1 GC policy
• AMARK native

Making libraries work with native image:

• Many modern frameworks like Spring Boot 3.x+ have built-in native support
• Use GraalVM tracing agent to generate config for unsupported libraries
• Leverage the GraalVM Reachability Metadata Repository
• Manually write reflection/resource configs if needed

Performance characteristics:

• Faster startup time compared to JVM
• Lower average memory usage
• Peak throughput can match JIT with proper optimization
• More predictable memory usage patterns

Monitoring options:

• Compatible with VisualVM
• Integrated with Spring Actuator
• JVM Stats monitoring support
• Standard profiling tools work with native executables

Key limitations and considerations:

• Longer build times compared to JVM
• All reflection/dynamic features must be known at build time
• Platform-specific builds required
• Some libraries may need additional configuration