Easy memory optimizations?

bbranded

Hello, I just finished one of my first programs, a program to show and hide windows by process. I'd like to go ahead and give it to my boss to put it in production, but the memory usage ranges from 12-15MB, and doesn't seem to make any sense. A co-worker of mine has a similar piece of software (handles z-order of windows), which he programmed in delphi, and it only takes 4-5MB of RAM. I attempted to call the garbage collector more frequently, but, as expected, this didn't have much of an effect (from what I've been reading, it does its job pretty efficiently on it's own). Does anyone have any tips for memory optimization? Thanks very much, Matt

Dave Kreskowiak

First, if you're looking in TaskManager to see the memory usage, it's lying to you. You're app isn't taking that much memory. A .NET app, like Java, runs in a kind of virtual machine. What you're seeing is what the .NET CLR has reserved for your application, even if the memory isn't being used. No, you can't do anything about it since all memory management is done automatically by the CLR. If Windows needs the memory the CLR has reserved back, the CLR is more than happy to return whatever it can. The reseason the memory is reserved to start with is because when your code allocates memory for an object, it's much quickler to allocate it out of the managed heap the CLR maintains, than it is to go back to Windows, ask for a block of memory, add it to the managed heap, then allocate your object. Calling the GarbageCollector doesn't do anything for you except screw up the internal optimization algorithm it uses. Unless you're an advanced developer with a definite need to do this and know precisely why you're doing it and the consequences of doing it, you show never force the GC to do an early collection. Plus, 12 to 15MB of memory is nothing now-a-days, so what are you worried about??

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Luc Pattyn

Hi, I agree with Dave.

bbranded wrote:

Does anyone have any tips for memory optimization?

The best optimization tip, assuming the functionality requirements warrant it: add lots of code and functionality, and rejoice when multiplying the source by 1000 makes the memory footprint grow by a much smaller factor. :)

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modified on Sunday, June 12, 2011 9:03 AM

Yusuf

Dave Kreskowiak wrote:

Plus, 12 to 15MB of memory is nothing now-a-days, so what are you worried about??

from OP

OP wrote:

A co-worker of mine has a similar piece of software (handles z-order of windows), which he programmed in delphi, and it only takes 4-5MB of RAM.

The Boss will make big fuss about .net :-O

Yusuf

bbranded · modified on Sunday, June 12, 2011 9:03 AM

Thanks for the info guys. I remember reading a blog post about it, but failed to be able to cite it to the senior dev. I understand what you're laying Luc. Neato. Thanks, Matt

Luc Pattyn

you're welcome. :)

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DaveyM69

This isn't a solution as such - but an observation. When an .Net application is minimized, the reported RAM useage in task manager decreases dramtically. I found this with an app that I did that ran in the tray mostly. On launch I forced it to minimize before placing it in the tray and all the clients stopped moaning! Also, make sure you've compiled it as 'Release', not debug if you're just testing/running the exe rather than an install, that can make a difference too.

Dave
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bbranded

Thanks Dave. I'll see if I can work something out with minimize. I was looking for this today, is there a way to specify this in C# Express? Thanks! Matt [edit] Found it! http://cygon.nuclex.org/2006/07/02/debug-and-release-in-visual-c-express/[^]

modified on Monday, March 2, 2009 7:11 PM

Dave Kreskowiak

Yusuf wrote:

The Boss will make big fuss about .net

Then the boss needs to read up on it and make form and educated opinion. The size of the runtime means nothing when it's productivity in writing code that's far more important. Ask him if he knows how memory management works in the .NET CLR. Does he know how it works in Delphi? Then compare the two. Oh, and this reading is not just for the boss. It should be for you too, so you can explain it to him...

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Dave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP Visual Developer - Visual Basic
2006, 2007, 2008