How to fix high Java CPU usage problems

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One of the first indicators of a runtime performance problem is a high Java CPU usage
report from a JVM profiler or Java monitoring tool. Unfortunately, high Java CPU
utilization problems on Windows and Linux are not always easy to resolve, as this metric
is often a red herring for a problem that is peripheral to the CPU.

For example, if an application overzealously allocates instances, the garbage collector

(GC) will be forced into action when object references go out of scope. Increasingly
frequent GC cycles will not only trigger JVM stop-the-world events that make an
application seem unresponsive, but they also cause high Java CPU utilization spikes.
Rectification of the GC issue has nothing to do with implementing more efficient
algorithms or logical workflows. The fix is to address the underlying object allocation
issue that inefficiently uses memory and triggers needless GC.

Java CPU metrics can be misleading

Blocked threads with contention issues can also cause JVM profiler tools to report 100%
Java CPU utilization. Concurrency problems and deadlocks aren't really a processor issue,
but instead a problem with how threads are allocated, and the methods they access are
synchronized or blocked.

CPU utilization can also be a misleading metric.

When a CPU is in an idle state, it reports its status as being unused, as it's not doing any
work. However, when threads are blocked, they will put the CPU in a wait state. The CPU
doesn't perform any logic when it's in the wait state, but it reports back to JVM profiling
tools that it's busy, despite the fact that it's doing nothing.

Furthermore, just because your hardware reports 100% CPU utilization, don't assume
that it's the JVM causing it. CPU usage might skyrocket when your application is under
load, but that spike might be attributable to a system process or a misconfiguration of the
software stack. If a server's virtual memory is misconfigured, page file thrashing will

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consume a majority of the CPU cycles. A virtual memory problem needs to be solved by
the DevOps team or system admins. It's not a problem that's attributable to your app or
how you've tuned the performance of the JVM.

JDK Mission Control can help isolate errant code that triggers high Java CPU usage.

Most common Java performance problems

The majority of JVM performance problems can be traced back to I/O operations, such as
writes to the file system or interactions with a back-end relational database management
system or message queue. A misconfigured database connection pool, where resources are
constantly created and destroyed to provide Java Database Connectivity to Spring and
JPA-based applications, can trigger high Java CPU usage rates. Poor I/O resource
management can also lead to leaked memory, and an inevitable OutOfMemoryError.

Another misleading source of high Java CPU usage is a poorly designed RESTful API that
makes too many network calls to other services. Chatty applications with a large number
of HTTP requests, along with the associated overhead of parsing JSON and XML on each
request-response cycle, will often trigger 100% Java CPU usage reports. This problem has
become increasingly common in modern enterprise architectures, as developers re-
architect software monoliths into microservices.

Peripheral causes of high Java CPU usage

When you troubleshoot high Java CPU usage problems, the first step is to eliminate the
various red herrings mentioned above. To review, these peripherally related issues
include:

bad JVM memory management;

poorly configured Java GC;
issues more correctly attributable to the software stack;
thread synchronization, contention and deadlock issues; and
underlying file and database I/O problems.

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Only after root-cause analysis eliminates these issues as a potential cause of the high Java
CPU usage problem should time be taken to troubleshoot potential issues in the code.

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Direct causes of high Java CPU usage

What could possibly be the culprit when your Java code is putting too much stress on the
CPU? The most common, directly attributable causes of high Java CPU usage problems
include:

inadvertent infinite loops;

poorly designed workflows and inefficient algorithms;
use of recursive logic;
incorrectly chosen collection classes; and
recalculation of already calculated values.

Infinite loops

Be it a fencepost error or just sloppy development, it's not unheard of for a programmer to
start a loop and incorrectly code the condition that breaks out of it. An infinite loop that
does nothing but consume clock cycles is the result. If multiple threads hit this line of
code, you have a multi-threaded application doing nothing but meaningless iterations.
Eliminate the infinite loops and CPU usage should go back to normal.

Poorly written workflows and algorithms

The CPU executes logic. If an application includes poorly written workflows, and the code
is wired together like a plate of spaghetti, then your CPU will devour needless clock cycles.
Update commonly invoked workflows and rework poorly performing algorithms to get the
most out of your CPU.

Recursive logic

While some programming languages are optimized for recursive logic, Java isn't one of
them. Recursive algorithms create threads that are hard to break out of, allocate object
that are not easily reclaimed by garbage collection algorithms, and they create a tower of

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Java stack frames that are difficult to unwind. Throw in the looming threat of a
StackOverflowError, and the case for iterative over recursive algorithms isn't a difficult
one to make.

Poorly chosen collection classes

List processing lies at the heart of most enterprise applications. As such, developers have
many collection classes to choose from. If a developer chooses to use a LinkedList instead
of an ArrayList on a large data set, CPU utilization will go through the roof. Similarly, if a
developer chooses to use the older Hashtable over a HashMap, synchronization may
needlessly consume clock cycles. Choose the wrong Java collection class, and application
performance will suffer. Choose the correct collection classes, and your high Java CPU
usage problems will disappear.

Recalculation of already calculated values

It's not uncommon for a given value to be calculated numerous times throughout an
application. If this is the case, hold the result of the first calculation in a variable and
reference that variable on all future interactions. Small changes like this can have a
significant impact on application performance, especially if cryptography, graphics
manipulation or other CPU-intensive operations are involved.

With a good JVM profiler like Java Flight Recorder, and an analytics tool like JDK
Mission Control tool available to inspect the results, identifying the culprit responsible for
high Java CPU usage problems shouldn't be a problem. And once identified, finding a fix
is just a matter of implementing new software routines and testing the results until the fix
is in.

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