Benchmarking Java Code with JMH (Java Microbenchmark Harness)
Jul 27, 2025 am 02:40 AMThe reason why the JVM optimization mechanism (such as dead code elimination, JIT compilation) will cause the result to be distorted; 1. Use JMH to add jmh-core and jmh-generator-annprocess dependencies; 2. Use @Benchmark annotation to mark the test method and use Blackhole to prevent the results from being optimized; 3. Use @BenchmarkMode, @Warmup, @Measurement, @Fork, @State and other annotations to reasonably configure the test environment; 4. Start JMH through the main method during runtime to avoid manual loop testing to ensure that the results are accurate and trustworthy.
Using JMH (Java Microbenchmark Harness) to benchmark Java code is a standard way to accurately measure the performance of small code. Many people directly use System.currentTimeMillis()
or simple loop to test performance, but this method is easily affected by JVM optimization mechanisms such as JIT compilation, GC, CPU warm-up, and code reordering, resulting in severe distortion of the results. JMH was born to solve these problems.

Why can't you hand-written benchmarks?
JVM is not a simple interpreter, it has optimizations such as JIT compilation, method inline, escape analysis, dead code elimination, etc. For example:
long start = System.nanoTime(); for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i ) { someMethod(); } long end = System.nanoTime();
The JVM may find that the result of someMethod()
is not used, and it directly optimizes the entire loop (dead code eliminates), resulting in the time-consuming measurement of 0. This kind of "fake" is meaningless.

How to use JMH correctly?
1. Adding JMH dependencies (Maven example)
<dependency> <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId> <artifactId>jmh-core</artifactId> <version>1.37</version> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId> <artifactId>jmh-generator-annprocess</artifactId> <version>1.37</version> <scope>provided</scope> </dependency>
2. Create a benchmark test class
@Benchmark public void testStringConcat(Blackhole blackhole) { String s = ""; for (int i = 0; i < 10; i ) { s = "a"; } blackhole.consume(s); // Prevent it from being optimized} @Benchmark public void testStringBuilder() { StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(); for (int i = 0; i < 10; i ) { sb.append("a"); } sb.toString(); }
Key points:
- Use
@Benchmark
annotation to mark the test method. - Use
Blackhole
to prevent the results from being optimized by JIT (especially when the return value or intermediate variable is not used). - The method must be
public
, otherwise JMH cannot be accessed.
3. Add reasonable annotations to control test behavior
@BenchmarkMode(Mode.AverageTime) @OutputTimeUnit(TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS) @Warmup(iterations = 3, time = 1, timeUnit = TimeUnit.SECONDS) @Measurement(iterations = 5, time = 1, timeUnit = TimeUnit.SECONDS) @Fork(1) @State(Scope.Thread) public class StringConcatBenchmark { // The test method is written here}
illustrate:

-
@BenchmarkMode
: Test the average time (AverageTime
), throughput (Throughput
), etc. -
@Warmup
: Warm up the rounds, allowing JIT to fully optimize the code. -
@Measurement
: Actual measurement rounds. -
@Fork(1)
: Each time you test fork a new JVM process to avoid mutual interference. -
@State(Scope.Thread)
: Indicates the scope of the test state to avoid inter-thread interference.
4. Run the benchmark test
Write a main
method to start:
public class JmhRunner { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { org.openjdk.jmh.Main.main(args); } }
Then run:
mvn clean install java -cp target/benchmarks.jar com.example.StringConcatBenchmark
Or run the main
method directly in the IDE (make sure the JMH class has been generated).
Common Traps and Best Practices
- ?Don't manually write
for
loops to measure performance : JMH has helped you control the number of iterations and measurement logic. - ? Use
Blackhole
to consume results : prevent useless code from being optimized. - ? Avoid doing too heavy operations in
@Setup
: unless it is the test initialization overhead. - ? Pay attention to whether Warmup is sufficient : JIT compilation takes time, and insufficient warm-up will lead to slow results.
- ? Get stable values after multiple runs : Performance may be affected by system load, and multiple tests are recommended.
Sample output interpretation
Benchmark Mode Cnt Score Error Units StringConcatBenchmark.testStringConcat avgt 5 482.3 ± 12.7 ns/op StringConcatBenchmark.testStringBuilder avgt 5 32.1 ± 1.3 ns/op
-
avgt
: Average time consumption -
ns/op
: nanoseconds per operation -
Score
: Average,Error
: Error range
It can be seen StringBuilder
is an order of magnitude faster than string splicing.
Basically that's it. The core value of JMH is to help you avoid the "traps" of JVM and get data that truly reflects performance. As long as you write according to the specifications, the results will be credible. Not complicated, but it is easy to ignore details.
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