Garbage Collection is automatic in modern platforms like JVM and ART, but it isn't free. It can lead to unpleasant user experiences, increased cloud hosting costs, and risks to application availability. Frequent pauses during garbage collection affect user transactions and can increase expenses due to higher CPU usage. Optimizing settings is essential.
In the Android Run Time (ART) environment, various garbage collection methods include Concurrent Mark Sweep (CMS), Concurrent Partial Mark Sweep, Concurrent Sticky Mark Sweep, and Mark Sweep + Semispace. Each method has distinct characteristics, ranging from collecting different space types to operational frequency and efficiency.
In the Android Run Time (ART) environment, garbage collection (GC) may be triggered by various factors, including concurrent activity, memory allocation attempts, explicit requests, native memory pressure, heap transitions, homogeneous space compaction, and certain blocking operations. Best practices advise against explicit GCs to minimize performance issues.