De-duplicating immutable data at runtime

A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that when executed on one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform:

• executing one or more applications, wherein the one or more applications comprise a plurality of objects each corresponding to a respective immutable data item allocated by the one or more applications in a memory heap of the one or more computers accessed by the one or more applications, wherein each object comprises a pointer to the respective immutable data item, wherein each immutable data item is not directly modifiable through a respective corresponding object;
• and
• performing, by a de-duplication component, a de-duplication process, wherein the de-duplication component is distinct from the one or more applications, and wherein the de-duplication process comprises:
• identifying a set of the immutable data items in the memory heap as potential duplicates;
• determining that two or more of the immutable data items of the set have identical content, wherein two or more of the plurality of objects comprise pointers to different immutable data items having the identical content;
• and
• for one or more of the immutable data items having identical content, modifying one or more of the pointers of the corresponding objects to point to a same immutable data item.

A system, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• memory coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores program instructions that when executable on the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform:
• executing one or more applications, wherein the one or more applications comprise a plurality of objects each corresponding to a respective immutable data item allocated by the one or more applications in a heap memory accessed by the one or more applications, wherein each object comprises a pointer to the respective immutable data item, wherein each immutable data item is not directly modifiable through the respective corresponding object;
• and
• performing, by a de-duplication component, a de-duplication process, wherein the de-duplication component is distinct from the one or more applications, and wherein the de-duplication process comprises:
• identifying a set of the immutable data items in the memory heap as potential duplicates;
• determining that two or more of the immutable data items of the set have identical content, wherein two or more of the plurality of objects comprise pointers to different immutable data items having the identical content;
• and
• for one or more of the immutable data items having identical content, modifying one or more of the pointers of the corresponding objects to point to a same immutable data item.