Flash Builder 4 is a big improvement over Flex Builder 3 for performance. But even so it doesn’t hurt to give Eclipse a little boost of much needed memory. Simply go to your eclipse.ini file. In Windows that’s located somewhere around here: C:\Program Files\eclipse3.5.
Note: If you are using Flash Builder standalone then look for FlashBuilder.ini in your Flash Builder install folder and make the same changes.
Your file should look something like this:
-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.0.201.R35x_v20090715.jar
–launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_1.0.200.v20090519
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.java.product
–launcher.XXMaxPermSize
256M
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
–launcher.XXMaxPermSize
256m
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.5
-Xms40m
-Xmx256m
Just change the last two lines to something like this:
-Xms256m
-Xmx512m
That should give Eclipse/Flash Builder a kick in the pants. I chose these settings based on the amount of RAM I have on my machine. You’re mileage may vary.
On both the standalone FB4 and the bundled eclipse distribution that comes with the FB4 plugin on Mac, the Xmx and Xms are already set at what you recommend. Perhaps if you do a separate install of Eclipse, the defaults are lower. Or maybe on Windows they are lower.
@Keith Interesting. Thanks for the input. So, did you bump yours up even higher or was it already fast enough?
I have been playing with these values over the last year, trying to get FB3 to go above the following settings:
-Xms512m
-Xmx512m
Every time I started up, I would get exit error code -1, with my config settings dumped out as well. No REAL error as to what was going on.
After a year, a coworker and I decided to figure it out, because I was tired of getting random null-pointer errors and out of memory errors (after-all, I have 8 gigs of RAM!!!!).
The solution? Install the latest JDK. I was originally just running the JRE, but apparently how the JDK allocates memory is different, or at least more tolerable. I can now allocate 4 gigs to Eclipse (or FB3/4).
HTH someone…
– KillerSpaz
@KillerSpaz Good to know. I know next to nothing about Java and the JDK. I’ll look into my system and see which I have running.
I have yet to see any performance gains in the Flex compiler in Flash Builder 4. Granted, I have a large project….but still, I believe Flex Builder performance a marketing checkbox and doesn't represent reality.
@todd I’ve noticed a decent performance increase on my WinXP system. Safe to say I’m getting at least a 33% improvement on build times. And I’m really happy about how fast refactoring works now. Much, MUCH better than before. But that’s just me. Like I said, “mileage may vary.” :)