Spring Boot fat JAR vs extracted layout
A controlled comparison of startup, first-request latency, and memory. The official extracted layout cut median startup 23.3% and first-request latency 34.1%.
Java and JVM experiments
Small tests around Spring Boot, packaging, startup, memory, and deployment. One concrete question, the smallest useful run, and a public record of what happened. Longer write-ups live in Articles when a result needs more room.
Featured experiments
Spring Boot vs Quarkus on a 512 MB VPS
A side-by-side JVM-mode comparison on the same 512 MB virtual machine, JDK 25, and 80 MiB heap.
Spring Boot on a 256 MiB VPS with JDK 25
A practical look at Spring Boot, compact object headers, and monitoring on a 256 MiB VPS.
Quick experiments
Fat JAR vs extracted layout vs Gradle distribution
A quick comparison of fat JAR, extracted layout, and Gradle application distribution startup and first-request latency.
How these experiments work
Quick experiments are designed to answer a practical question quickly. A run may use one environment and only a few samples, and each write-up should say so. Featured experiments use more controlled methodology and are documented as fuller studies, with articles when a result warrants more room.
Source, commands, supporting files, and selected raw evidence live in the public PVR Labs experiments repository.
Longer-running experiments may use StatLite for lightweight Spring Boot and JVM monitoring without operating a Prometheus/Grafana stack.