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An "oop" in HotSpot parlance is a managed pointer to an object. They are It is normally the same size as a native machine pointer, which means 64 bits on an LP64 system. On an ILP32 system, there is a maximum heap size of 4Gb or so, which is not enough for many applications. On an LP64 system, though, the heap of any given run is almost twice as big , as the corresponding IPL32 system (assuming the run fits both modes). This is due to the expanded size of managed pointers. Memory is pretty cheap, but these days bandwidth and cache is in short supply, so doubling the size of the heap, just to get over the 4Gb limit, is painful.

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If UseCompressedOops is true, the following oops in the heap will be compressed:

• the _ klass field of every object
• every instance field
• every element of an oop array (objArray)
• in a constant pool... (what is the rule here??)
• (what else is compressed??)

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• C++ object pointers (this)
• handles to managed pointers (type Handle, etc.)
• JNI handles (type jobject)

The C++ code has a type called narrowOop to mark places where compressed oops are being manipulated (usually, loaded or stored).

Null processing

A 32-bit zero value decodes into a 64-bit native null value. This requires an awkward special path in the decoding logic, to the point where it is profitable to statically note which compressed oops (like klass fields) are guaranteed never to be null, and use a simpler version of the full decode or encode operation.

Implicit null checks are crucial to JVM performance, in both interpreted and compiled bytecodes. A memory reference which uses a short-enough offset on a base pointer is sure to provoke a trap or signal of some sort if the base pointer is null, because the first page or so of virtual address space is not mapped.

We can sometimes use a similar trick with compressed oops, by unmapping the first page or so of the virtual addresses used by the managed heap. The idea is that, if a compressed null is ever decoded (by shifting and adding to the heap base), it can be used for a load or store operation, and the code still enjoys an implicit null check.

Object header layout

An object header consists of a native-sized mark word, a klass word, a 32-bit length word (if the object is an array), a 32-bit gap (if required by alignment rules), and then zero or more instance fields, array elements, or metadata fields. (Interesting Trivia: Klass metaobjects contain a C++ vtable immediately after the klass word.)

The gap field, if it exists, is often available to store instance fields.

If UseCompressedOops is false (and always on ILP32 systems), the mark and klass are both native machine words. For arrays, the gap is always present on LP64 systems, and only on arrays with 64-bit elements on ILP32 systems.

If UseCompressedOops is true, the klass is 32 bits. Non-arrays have a gap field immediately after the klass, while arrays store the length field immediately after the klass.