Azul, JetBrains Collaborate to Enhance Runtime Performance for Kotlin Workloads

Azul, the only company 100% focused on Java, and JetBrains, the leading provider of professional software development tools and creator of the Kotlin programming language, have announced a strategic technical collaboration to enhance the runtime performance and scalability of web and server-side Kotlin applications. This strategic collaboration empowers Kotlin teams to accelerate development cycles and optimise application performance, helping them support their business priorities while driving greater operational efficiency.

Joining Forces to Advance Kotlin Performance

Azul and JetBrains have joined forces with a shared vision to reexamine how Kotlin-generated bytecode interacts with the Java runtime (known as a Java Virtual Machine or JVM) and uncover new paths to improve application performance. By combining Azul’s deep expertise in the JVM and application performance, with Kotlin’s precise control over bytecode generation, the collaboration creates a unique opportunity to optimise the entire execution stack for modern applications.

While Kotlin is a cross-platform, general-purpose high-level programming language designed to interoperate fully with the JVM, runtime performance and scalability are derived predominantly from the JVM.

By leveraging the proven performance of Azul Platform Prime, which includes the Zing JDK incorporating Azul’s Falcon LLVM-based JIT compiler and C4 garbage collector, Kotlin web and server-side applications can see a demonstrable performance improvement. When comparing Kotlin applications on Azul Platform Prime vs. off-the-shelf OpenJDK using the TechEmpower Web Framework Benchmarks, Azul Platform Prime reduced latencies by 23.9% and improved throughput by as much as 30.5%. For more details on the benchmark methodology and results, visit the JetBrains Blog.

Azul Platform Prime: Engineered for Speed, Scale, and Stability

Azul Platform Prime is available for x86 and ARM64 processors running Linux and is rigorously tested for enterprise workloads and compliant with the Java SE version standards using the industry standard Java Compatibility Kit (the JCK or TCK) test suite. It is based on the same “HotSpot” JVM and JDK code base used by the OpenJDK project, with specific enhancements relating to JIT compilation, garbage collection and startup/warmup behaviour.

Azul’s Falcon is an LLVM-based JIT compiler that delivers highly optimised application code at runtime. C4 (Continuously Concurrent Compacting Collector) is a proven, high-performance garbage collector that maintains concurrent, disruption-free application execution across wide ranges of heap sizes from GBs to multi-TBs, and allocation rates from MBs/sec to tens of GB/sec. Together, these runtime features provide significantly improved application operating characteristics and carrying capacity, improving application throughout and response times while lowering the infrastructure and cloud costs required to run business-critical workloads.

“From its inception, Kotlin was designed with the goal of building robust applications, including server-side solutions where performance is critical. Performance has always been a priority for us because it’s essential to our users,” said Vsevolod Tolstopyatov, Project Lead at Kotlin. “Kotlin incorporates specific language features, such as inline functions and inline classes, which directly enhance performance. We’ve developed the Kotlin Coroutines library to facilitate concurrency and asynchronous programming, enabling efficient, scalable applications. Recognising that the JVM runtime is one of the most critical elements in application performance, we believe our collaboration with Azul will unlock new opportunities to further elevate the performance capabilities of Kotlin applications.”

“The Azul JVM is the fastest and cheapest way to run Kotlin applications. Azul Platform Prime is built to solve the performance challenges enterprise applications face at scale. By providing a runtime that significantly improves the execution of JVM-based applications, which includes Kotlin-based applications, organisations can deploy applications more rapidly, with less tuning and ensure scalability as demands grow,” said Gil Tene, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Azul. “Through our strategic collaboration with JetBrains, we help Kotlin teams to significantly boost their DevOps productivity and runtime application efficiency, which enables them to achieve their business priorities while improving the bottom line.”

For Kotlin development teams that are looking to enhance the performance of their web or server-side applications, engineers can download Azul Platform Prime Stream Builds, which are free for evaluation and development, to profile the benefits of the Zing JDK with their Kotlin applications.