Memory use for garbage collected computer environments

An information processing system comprising:

• a memory comprising a heap memory for use by at least one application;
• a processor communicatively coupled to the memory;
• a garbage collector communicatively coupled to the processor and the memory, wherein unused memory in the heap memory is reclaimed by the garbage collector;
• and
• wherein the processor, responsive to executing computer instructions, performs operations comprising:
• periodically monitoring, with the processing system, information related to the application's memory usage including a maximum heap memory size, an in use heap memory size, and a garbage collection activity level;
• based on determining that the garbage collection activity level is below a first threshold, estimating an amount of memory that can be released from the application by reducing the maximum heap memory size;
• and
• based on determining that the estimated amount of memory that can be released from the application is above a second threshold, releasing memory from the application.

A computer readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions which, responsive to being executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations, the processor being in an information processing system comprised of a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory comprising a heap memory, and a garbage collector communicatively coupled to the processor and the memory, wherein unused memory in the heap memory is reclaimed by the garbage collector, and wherein the processor, responsive to executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising:

• periodically monitoring, with the processing system, information related to the application's memory usage including a maximum heap memory size, an in use heap memory size, and a garbage collection activity level;
• based on determining that the garbage collection activity level is below a first threshold, estimating an amount of memory that can be released from the application by reducing the maximum heap memory size;
• and
• based on determining that the estimated amount of memory that can be released from the application is above a second threshold, releasing memory from the application.