Azul has announced that its Azul Platform Prime outperforms comparable OpenJDK distributions by as much as 37%. The results come from the Renaissance Benchmark Suite one of three key industry benchmark suites that Azul uses to test its software.
The company has also introduced its Java Performance Engineering Lab. It will allow developers and customer technical teams to raise the performance of their code. Azul says it enables “continuous benchmarking, code modernisation recommendations and in-depth analysis of performance impacts from new OpenJDK releases.”
Scott Sellers, Co-Founder and CEO at Azul, said, “Azul is redefining what’s possible with Java performance, introducing the critical capabilities required to be defined as a High-Performance Java Platform. Today we’re delivering an average of 37% higher performance compared to other OpenJDK distributions, empowering enterprises to achieve unprecedented levels of speed, efficiency and innovation without overhauling their applications.
“In today’s cloud-driven economy, where every millisecond and dollar counts, Azul Platform Prime is the clear choice for organisations looking to enhance user experiences, reduce operational costs and drive competitive advantage.”
Demand for high-performing Java is growing
Enterprise IT teams are seeing increased pressure on resources. Even with the ability to add new resources such as CPU and memory, IT teams have to balance the needs of different systems due to cost. Enterprise Java applications are often seen as critical elements of an IT enterprise stack, which means IT operations teams over-allocate resources to ensure they are stable.
Azul says that its Azul Platform Prime “includes a JDK distribution that is compatible with the Java SE spec for a given LTS release, and have enhanced JDK characteristics that provide superior speed, start-up and warm-up, and consistency vs typical OpenJDK distributions.”
In the table below, Azul has listed the critical capabilities of Azul Platform prime vs OpenJDK.
Critical Capabilities vs. OpenJDK | Description | Azul Platform Prime Feature |
JDK Characteristics | ||
Code Execution Speed |
Steady-state and top speed of JIT compiled code
|
Falcon JIT compiler
Delivers improved speculative optimisations with a better LLVM-based JIT compiler; runs Java code 20-50% faster |
Startup and Warmup | Time to peak performance | ReadyNow; Optimizer Hub; CRaC
Reuses compiler profiling from previous runs, accelerating time to peak performance Offloads JIT compilation to external Optimizer Hub service Restores a JVM from a snapshot of another JVM |
Consistency | Avoidance of outliers, stalls and pauses | C4 Pauseless Garbage Collector; ReadyNow
Maintains consistent service levels at higher loads |
Memory Footprint | The JDK uses less memory to run the application | C4 Pauseless Garbage Collector
More efficient heap memory management to avoid pauses and use bigger heaps when needed |
External Services | ||
JIT Compilation and Caching | Centralised service that offloads JIT compilation from stand-alone JVMs | Optimizer Hub – Cloud Native Compiler
Offloads JIT compilation to a scalable, shared service Slashes JIT CPU workload on each JVM Caches compilations for reuse across JVMs |
Centralised Distribution of Optimization Profiles | Centralised service that learns, builds, and distributes the most optimal startup and warmup profiles | Optimizer Hub – ReadyNow Orchestrator
Automatically learns, builds and distributes the best optimisation profile for an application |
Compatibility | ||
Java SE Specifications | The JDK can run any language feature documented in the Java SE Specification | Java TCK (Technology Compatibility Kit) verified and Java SE compliant |
Java Version(s) Support | Support for Java Long Term Support (LTS) versions | Supports all Java LTS versions 8, 11, 17, 21 |
Code Changes | No application modifications needed to utilise performance enhancements | Azul Platform Prime does not require code changes to deliver performance gains |
Helping customers accelerate Java performance
The Azul Java Performance Engineering Lab (JPEL) is aimed at helping customers get the most from Azul Platform Prime. It is aimed at developers and architects to ensure that both the application and its deployment are optimised for speed and performance.
Azul says that its engineers will provide recommendations to customers on how to modernise older application code. This is a key step as customers look to migrate older apps to gain the benefits of Platform Prime.
What is not clear is how that process will work in practice. Will Azul send its engineers to site? Will it expect customers to provide remote access to their environments? The latter comes with challenges over security and ensuring compliance needs are met for customers in some vertical markets.
A third option would be pushing code into a virtual environment controlled by Azul, where the engineers could help with code review. However, that would remove the environmental factors from the testing and reduce the effectiveness of the advice.
In addition to helping customers improve the performance of their applications, the JPEL is currently looking at a range of emerging technologies. Those currently being looked at, according to Azul, include:
- New hardware capabilities (e.g. LAM in Intel)
- Updates of CPU architectures (e.g. AWS Graviton 4)
- Latest Linux kernel features, performance tooling
- Java evolution (e.g. CRaC, Virtual threads, Project Valhalla, Project Leyden)
- Optimisations developed and contributed to the LLVM compiler community
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
Anything that optimises the performance of Java applications is good news. For Azul to claim a 37% improvement over competitors is a substantial figure. However, it should be noted that this is not an independent test, but Azul testing its own code using industry benchmarks. It would have been better if it had put the code out to test with a third party.
Customers and competitors will now be looking for how Azul Platform Prime performs in other tests. Will it show the same level of improvement, or will it be higher?
Despite Azul marking its own homework, customers will welcome this news. They are also likely to be very interested in the new lab offering. How quickly it will be taken up remains to be seen. If there is too much interest. Azul could find itself with a problem of staffing the lab and delivering benefits to customers.