Visualizing the Java heap to detect memory problems

Many of the problems that occur in long-running systems involve the way that the system uses memory. We have developed a framework for extracting and building a model of the heap from a running Java system. Such a model is only useful if the programmer can extract from it the information they need to understand, find, and eventually fix memory-related problems in their system. This paper describes the visualization strategy we use for interactively displaying the model and related information to achieve these goals.