As of Java 8, the default garbage collection algorithm was the parallel garbage collector. Java 8 was released with some improvements to the G1 garbage collection system. One of these improvements was the ability to use the following command-line option to optimize the heap memory by removing duplicative string values:
-XX:+UseStringDeduplication
The G1 garbage collector can view the character arrays when it sees a string. It then takes the value and stores it with a new, weak reference to the character array. If the G1 garbage collector finds a string with the same hash code, it will compare the two strings with a character-by-character review. If a match is found, both strings end up pointing to the ...
