Writing software for a virtual machine enables developers to forget about machine code assembly, interrupts, and processor caches. This makes Java a convenient language, but all too many developers see the JVM as a black box and are often unsure of how to optimize their code for performance. This unfortunately adds credence to the myth that Java is always outperformed by native languages. This session takes a peek at the inner workings of Oracle’s HotSpot virtual machine, its just-in-time compiler, and the interplay with a computer’s hardware. From this, you will understand the more common optimizations a virtual machine applies, to be better equipped to improve and reason about a Java program’s performance and how to correctly measure runtime!