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Heap The heap is a contiguous section of virtual memory where all the Java objects in a running JVM are stored. The maximum size of the Java heap is preallocated when the JVM starts. There is another memory area that Java uses called the system (or native) heap where allocations from application JNI code, compiled JIT code, and threads to map to Java threads, among other things are stored. The Java heap is commonly referred to as "the heap."

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