[java] How to view the current heap size that an application is using?

I think I increased my heap size to 1 GB in NetBeans since I changed the config to look like this:

netbeans_default_options="-J-Xmx1g ......

After I restarted NetBeans, can I be sure that my app is given 1 GB now?

Is there a way to verify this?

You can use jconsole (standard with most JDKs) to check heap sizes of any java process.

Attach with jvisualvm from Sun Java 6 JDK. Startup flags are listed.

You can Use the tool : Eclipse Memory Analyzer Tool http://www.eclipse.org/mat/ .

It is very useful.

Personal favourite for when jvisualvm is overkill or you need cli-only: jvmtop

JvmTop 0.8.0 alpha   amd64  8 cpus, Linux 2.6.32-27, load avg 0.12
https://github.com/patric-r/jvmtop

PID MAIN-CLASS      HPCUR HPMAX NHCUR NHMAX    CPU     GC    VM USERNAME   #T DL
3370 rapperSimpleApp  165m  455m  109m  176m  0.12%  0.00% S6U37 web        21
11272 ver.resin.Resin [ERROR: Could not attach to VM]
27338 WatchdogManager   11m   28m   23m  130m  0.00%  0.00% S6U37 web        31
19187 m.jvmtop.JvmTop   20m 3544m   13m  130m  0.93%  0.47% S6U37 web        20
16733 artup.Bootstrap  159m  455m  166m  304m  0.12%  0.00% S6U37 web        46

public class CheckHeapSize {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        long heapSize = Runtime.getRuntime().totalMemory(); 

        // Get maximum size of heap in bytes. The heap cannot grow beyond this size.// Any attempt will result in an OutOfMemoryException.
        long heapMaxSize = Runtime.getRuntime().maxMemory();

         // Get amount of free memory within the heap in bytes. This size will increase // after garbage collection and decrease as new objects are created.
        long heapFreeSize = Runtime.getRuntime().freeMemory(); 

        System.out.println("heapsize"+formatSize(heapSize));
        System.out.println("heapmaxsize"+formatSize(heapMaxSize));
        System.out.println("heapFreesize"+formatSize(heapFreeSize));

    }
    public static String formatSize(long v) {
        if (v < 1024) return v + " B";
        int z = (63 - Long.numberOfLeadingZeros(v)) / 10;
        return String.format("%.1f %sB", (double)v / (1L << (z*10)), " KMGTPE".charAt(z));
    }
}

You can do it by MXBeans

public class Check {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        MemoryMXBean memBean = ManagementFactory.getMemoryMXBean() ;
        MemoryUsage heapMemoryUsage = memBean.getHeapMemoryUsage();

        System.out.println(heapMemoryUsage.getMax()); // max memory allowed for jvm -Xmx flag (-1 if isn't specified)
        System.out.println(heapMemoryUsage.getCommitted()); // given memory to JVM by OS ( may fail to reach getMax, if there isn't more memory)
        System.out.println(heapMemoryUsage.getUsed()); // used now by your heap
        System.out.println(heapMemoryUsage.getInit()); // -Xms flag

        // |------------------ max ------------------------| allowed to be occupied by you from OS (less than xmX due to empty survival space)
        // |------------------ committed -------|          | now taken from OS
        // |------------------ used --|                    | used by your heap

    }
}

But remember it is equivalent to Runtime.getRuntime() (took depicted schema from here)

memoryMxBean.getHeapMemoryUsage().getUsed()      <=> runtime.totalMemory() - runtime.freeMemory()
memoryMxBean.getHeapMemoryUsage().getCommitted() <=> runtime.totalMemory()
memoryMxBean.getHeapMemoryUsage().getMax()       <=> runtime.maxMemory()

from javaDoc

init - represents the initial amount of memory (in bytes) that the Java virtual machine requests from the operating system for memory management during startup. The Java virtual machine may request additional memory from the operating system and may also release memory to the system over time. The value of init may be undefined.

used - represents the amount of memory currently used (in bytes).

committed - represents the amount of memory (in bytes) that is guaranteed to be available for use by the Java virtual machine. The amount of committed memory may change over time (increase or decrease). The Java virtual machine may release memory to the system and committed could be less than init. committed will always be greater than or equal to used.

max - represents the maximum amount of memory (in bytes) that can be used for memory management. Its value may be undefined. The maximum amount of memory may change over time if defined. The amount of used and committed memory will always be less than or equal to max if max is defined. A memory allocation may fail if it attempts to increase the used memory such that used > committed even if used <= max would still be true (for example, when the system is low on virtual memory).

    +----------------------------------------------+
    +////////////////           |                  +
    +////////////////           |                  +
    +----------------------------------------------+

    |--------|
       init
    |---------------|
           used
    |---------------------------|
              committed
    |----------------------------------------------|
                        max

As additional note, maxMemory is less than -Xmx because there is necessity at least in one empty survival space, which can't be used for heap allocation.

also it is worth to to take a look at here and especially here