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I have tried three IDEs, all of which I'm fairly sure require Java to run, and all of them start up very very slow (30 seconds to 1 minute) on the first launch of the day. After that, they all start up lightening fast.

The three programs are: Aptana Studio 3, Eclipse, and PHP Webstorm.

Based on upon my web searches, I have modified the AptanaStudio3.ini using some of the suggestions on how to speed it up and they all work ... for every start up after the first launch, that is, but the first launch of the day remains painfully and inexplicably slow.

I have searched SO and I did not see any questions speaking to this issue. If anyone finds an answer here, thank you very much but I could not.

My only conclusion is that this issue is related to how Java runs on Windows 8 since all three software programs are adversely affected. Is this a known bug in Java on Windows 8? I have no idea what to think but I would be greatly appreciative if someone can offer help.

OBSERVATION: from my testing, it seems that if I start up my laptop and then launch Eclipse or Aptana within the first say the first 10 minutes of booting, it launches quicker (still slow but not as bad) then if I were to wait for about an hour and then launch my IDE. Not sure what this indicates.

Thanks

max7
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    In regard to Eclipse, maybe this will be helpful to you: [What are the best JVM settings for Eclipse?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/142357/what-are-the-best-jvm-settings-for-eclipse?lq=1) – informatik01 Apr 14 '13 at 22:08

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Though you can tune the Eclipse (or Aptana) .ini file and do things like disable class verification and boot using the JVM DLL, this has more to do with OS and hardware disk caching than the JVM. Boot each of the IDEs from a Ramdisk and you'll see that they boot equally as quickly from RAM the first time as they do from 'disk' the second time.

Source: I've spent a lot of time trying to solve this problem already. :)

jonathan.cone
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  • Thanks for the response, good to know I'm not the only one suffering :) So, could you do anything to resolve this/make it less problematic or are you just living with it, accepting that the first launch of the day will take a mini eternity? – max7 Apr 15 '13 at 06:57
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    I have installed an SSD hard drive and I can honestly say it has made a significant difference for me. Obviously, I can't comment on your specific hardware, so YMMV. I also generally don't shut down my computer at night any more, I just put it to sleep so the IDE stays running. – jonathan.cone Apr 15 '13 at 14:19
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It might be worth checking your antivirus scanner behaviour - I have precisely this problem. In spite of SSD & reasonably quick i5 on win8 ultimate, the first boot time for eclipse is measured in many minutes (can be over 10), with subsequent restarts being done in a matter of tens of seconds. The whole PC can do a full restart in about half a minute, so its unlikely to be a raw I/O issue.

From looking at the cpu hogs & digging from there, it appears that the a/v (macafee) is doing an on-access scan for all the eclipse components & plugins after every boot & I suspect this is where much of the time is being taken.

I'll post an update when I've persauded someone to exclude eclipse & jvm from the on-access scan...

simon coleman
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  • Thanks very much for the comment, greatly appreciate the research. I'm running Comodo Internet Security on my win8 machine. I will try adding both Aptana and the jvm to exclude list and see what happens. – max7 May 06 '13 at 22:53
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    Took a while to get the infrastructure guys to do this, but we removed the on-access read scanning from both the eclipse folders & the jvm installation. Now that's in place I have eclipse starting in 15-30secs which is a huge improvement. We demonstrated that both sets of folders were required to get the full speed benefit & I suspect that 75% of that may actually be the jvm. – simon coleman May 24 '13 at 12:30
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Since Aptana Studio is based upon Eclipse there is no big difference to be expected. This is not a known Bug for Java on Windows 8, since I experienced it at least already in Windows 7. AFAIK it has to do with starting the JVM for the first time. Of course you could throw a lot of memory at it or tweak the .ini of the IDE. The JVM-startupprocess wouldn't really be affected and it would still be slow. What is neglectable for a server is a problem on the desktop. For details take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_performance#Startup%5Ftime

Thomas Junk
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  • it's just very odd since I have two machines running Aptana Studio 3 on Windows 7 and every start up including the first one goes just as expected. Now suddenly, on my Lenvovo Y400, Windows 8 machine, I have to wait an eternity for my IDE. I tried PHP Webstorm out of desperation but it displayed the same issue. – max7 Apr 14 '13 at 23:30
  • Is there any way to have the JVM start when I turn on my machine, thereby alleviating this initial slow start? Perhaps a stupid question but I have to ask. – max7 Apr 14 '13 at 23:53
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    @max7 For Windows XP and 2000 there is [Java Quick Starter](http://www.java.com/en/download/help/quickstarter.xml) (it is included in the installation). No need for it on Windows Vista and 7. As for Windows 8, no info as of now. Although Windows 8 is still mentioned on the info page (see the link above) – informatik01 Apr 15 '13 at 00:54
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    JVM startup on modern machines is about 0.1sec - pretty negligible. It's much more likely to be an issue with disk IO/caching and/or the applications themselves doing significant work on startup. – mikera Apr 15 '13 at 05:01