Can I force the JVM to natively compile a given method?
I have a performance-critical method called often when my app starts up. Eventually, it gets JIT-compiled, but not after some noticeable time being run in the interpreter.
Is there any way I can tell the JVM that I want this method compiled right from the start (without tweaking other internals with stuff like -XX:CompileThreshold)?
Answer
The only way I know of is the -Xcomp flag, but that is not generally advisable to use. It forces immediate JIT compilation of ALL classes and methods first time they are run. The downside is that you will see a performance decrease on initial startup (due to increased JIT activity). The other major limitation with this flag is that it appears to disable the incremental profiling-based optimization that JIT would normally do. In standard mixed mode, the JIT compiler can (and will) deoptimize and re-compile parts of the code continually based on profiling and run-time information collected. This allows it to "correct" faulty optimizations like boundary checks that were omitted but turned out to be needed, sub-optimal inlinings etc. -Xcomp disables the profiling-based optimization and depending on program, can cause significant performance losses overall for only a small or no real gain in startup, which is why it's not recommended to use.
Beyond to -Xcomp (which is pretty brutal) and -XX:CompileThreshold (which controls how many executions of a given method the JIT will run in intepreted mode to gather stats before compiling/optimizing it), there is also -Xbatch. This forces JIT compilation to the "foreground", essentially blocking calls to methods until it's been compiled, rather than compiling it in the background as it normally does.
You didn't specify which Java version you are using, but if Java 7 is an option for you, it introduces a new JIT model called "Tiered compilation" (activated with the -XX:+TieredCompilation switch). What tiered compilation does is that it allows an initial, smaller compilation pass on the first use of a method and than an additional, larger compilation/optimization later, based on collected profiling data. Sounds like it should be interesting to you.
It supposedly requires some additional tweaking and parameters/configurations, but I've not got around to checking it out further.