Understanding Optimization

Performance considerations are present at every step of the development cycle. Although this implies an awareness of performance issues in your design and implementation, it does not mean that you should expect to achieve the best possible performance in your first pass.

For example, if optimization complicates the design, leave it until the final development phase. You should still plan for these optimizations from your first iteration, to make them easier to integrate later.

The most important concept associated with tuning your TopLink application is the idea of an iterative approach. The most effective way to tune your application is to do the following:

1. Measure application performance using the TopLink profiler (see "Measuring Performance With the TopLink Profiler") or the Oracle Dynamic Monitoring System (DMS) profiler (see "Measuring Performance With the Oracle Dynamic Monitoring System (DMS)")

2. Modify application components (see "Sources of Application Performance Problems")

3. Measure performance again.

To identify the changes that improve your application performance, modify only one or two components at a time. You should also tune your application in a nonproduction environment before you deploy the application.