Netopyr GmbH

Today’s post focuses on optimizations for the core JavaFX runtime.

WARNING: The tips I am giving here are true for the current version of JavaFX Mobile, which is part of the JavaFX 1.1 SDK. In future versions the behavior will change, the
current bad performance of the mentioned artifacts will be optimized away or at least significantly improved. Everything I am writing about here is a snap-shot, nothing should be understood as
final!

Item 7: Define variables with def instead of var. Make them script-private.

When defining instance variables, it is good practice to limit the accessibility as much as possible. Also if a variable is immediately initialized and not reassigned afterwards, one should use the keyword def to define it. This is true for almost all bound variables, because bound variables cannot be reassigned (there is no such thing as an unbound-operation) and usually one already knows what they are bound to when they are defined.

Besides resulting in clearer and less error-prone code, following these suggestions also improves performance. The more hints we can provide to the compiler, the more aggressive it can optimize our code. Let’s take a look at an example in Code Sample 1.

1 class Main {
2     def i1: Integer = 0;
3     var i2: Integer;
4     public def i3: Integer = 0;
5     public var i4: Integer;
6 }

Code Sample 1 defines a small class with four members i1, i2, i3, and i4. The variables i1 and i2 are script-private, i3 and i4 are public; the variables i1 and i3 are defined with def, i2 and i4 are defined with var. Code Sample 2 shows part of the generated Java code.

1 class Main extends java.lang.Object implements Main$Intf,com.sun.javafx.runtime.FXObject{
2     public int $Main$i1;
3     public int $Main$i2;
4     public int $i3;
5     public final com.sun.javafx.runtime.location.IntVariable $i4;
6     ...
7 }

What is remarkable about the generated Java code is the fact that all variables but i4 became simple ints; only the variable i4 is translated into an IntVariable, because it needs to provide more functionality. An int-variable requires less memory and performs faster than an instance of IntVariable.

Item 8: Use Integer instead of Number

Operations on integers are always faster than operations on floating-point values. On limited device, which usually do not have a mathematical coprocessor like desktop computers, the difference is exorbitant. Therefore it is good practice to use Integers whenever possible.

The type-inference mechanism of the JavaFX compiler usually does a very good job in determining the correct type of a variable, but if in doubt, it will chose Number. Therefore one should always set the type of Integer variables explicitly.

Item 9: Use functions of class Sequences

The class Sequences in the package javafx.util provides a large number of useful functions for dealing with sequences. One should be familiar with the provided functions and use them instead of implementing them by oneself. The functions in Sequences have been tested thoroughly and the performance is at least as good, if not better than that of own implementations.

Links to previous parts:

Item 1: Avoid unnecessary bindings
Item 2: Keep the scenegraph as small as possible
Item 3: Use simple shapes instead of images
Item 4: Use small images instead of complex shapes
Item 5: Use the prescaling functionality
Item 6: Use background loading