The Memory Analyzer has a rich set of features to analyze heap dumps from various VM vendors. The available toolset is helpful to find the root cause of many memory related problems, e.g. OutOfMemoryErrors. The team is currently putting the main focus on growing the community around the tool and looking for new problem domains where the tool could be helpful.

This project plan describes the improvements we target for version 1.1.0

 The Memory Analyzer is delivered as
  • stand-alone RCP version via eclipse.org download server.
  • feature to be installed into an Eclipse IDE installation using an update site.
 For publishing of milestones we will try to follow the plan of the Indigo simultaneous release, potentially skipping some of the milestones. MAT 1.1.0 released and included in the Indigo simultaneous release The Memory Analyzer requires Java 5 and runs on Eclipse 3.4 and greater. A stand-alone version is provided on the download server which is build currently with Eclipse 3.5.1. The Memory Analyzer is prepared to be translated. Translation relevant String constants are externalized into resource bundles. Binary and source compatibility is expected for the Snapshot and Parser API.

These are some new features that we would like to finish for the 1.1.0 release

  • Create single-sourced version of Memory Analyzer(262603)
    Benjamin Muskalla has contributed a set of changes which to enable MAT run as a RAP application. The project team will try to integrate all the changes and will aim to provide MAT also as a archive which can be deployed in a web server. It is unclear if the team will manage this for the 1.1.0 release.
  • Simplify analysis of dumps with JRuby structures inside(318989)
    A set of MAT extensions aiming to make analysis of heap dumps from processes running ruby code (with jruby) easier. The enhancements include for example showing the jruby call-stack for a thread instead the Java call-stack, pointing to the script file being executed, etc...

The Memory Analyzer documentation is available as (a) help plug-in, (b) WIKI pages and (c) blog postings for special topics.

  • Provide a "developer guide" for extending Memory Analyzer in Wiki
    We are working on a set of pages describing what the different possibilities to extend MAT are, and how such extensions could be written.
  • Review the existing documentation
    Currently existing documentation should be reviewed and outdated parts have to be adjusted.
  • Document new features
    The newly developed features have to be properly documented.
  • Publish the Help Plug-in contents on the eclipse.org Page.
    Additionally delivering the help content via web pages will make them searchable via search engines like Google. This should attract new users to the tool.

A vibrant community is essential for the long term health of any project. The Memory Analyzer is in a difficult position, because it is a niche tool which not only requires some significant domain knowledge about memory analysis but also is utilized only sporadically during the development of big applications.

  • Participate in the Indigo Simultaneous Release.
  • Be responsive to questions posted to the newsgroup and Bugzilla reports.