1. Strategies, Approaches, and Methodologies

With Java performance tuning, as with many other activities, you need a plan of action, an approach, or strategy. And, like many other activities, a set of information or background is required in a given domain to be successful. To be successful in a Java performance tuning effort, you need to be beyond the stage of “I don’t know what I don’t know” and into the “I know what I don’t know” stage or already be in the “I already know what I need to know” stage.

If you find yourself a little lost in the definition of these three stages, they are further clarified here: