Thread print analysis is a traditional approach used to analyze performance bottlenecks in Java-based applications. In the modern age, we have APM tools that provide various metrics and screens to drill down and identify performance issues, even at the code level. But for some problems or performance cases, thread print analysis still stands as the best way to identify bottlenecks.
When to use thread printing
To analyze any performance issue, it’s a good idea to do a series of thread prints 1 to 2 seconds apart. Creating 10-15 thread dumps, each at 1-2 second intervals, helps in analyzing stuck threads or executing the same code on thread dumps.