Abstract
Method Partitioning is a dynamic technique for customizing performance-critical message-based interactions between program components, at runtime and without the need for design-time application knowledge. The technique partitions program units that implement message handling, with low costs and high levels of flexibility. It consists of (a) static analysis of a message handling method to produce candidate partitioning plans for the method, (b) cost models for evaluating the cost/benefits of different partitioning plans, (c) a Remote Continuation mechanism that "connects" the distributed parts of a partitioned method at runtime, and (d) Runtime Profiling and Reconfiguration which monitors actual costs of candidate plans and dynamically selects "best" plans from candidates. Experiments with prototypical implementation of Method Partitioning in the JECho distributed event system demonstrate significant performance improvements for both communication-bound and compute-intensive applications, with both applications having dynamic factors that are not predictable at design time.