Stop-the-World Pause
An interval during which application threads are suspended so the runtime can perform an operation requiring globally consistent state.
JVM Runtime Context
A stop-the-world pause suspends application threads while the runtime performs an operation that needs coordinated global state. Garbage-collection phases, safepoint VM operations, class or runtime bookkeeping, and deoptimization can contribute pauses that are visible in tail latency.
Collector Boundary
A concurrent collector does not imply that every phase is free of stop-the-world coordination. Modern collectors usually retain short synchronization phases even when most marking or relocation work runs concurrently.
Related JVM Concepts
- Garbage Collection
- Safepoint
- Tail Latency
- Pause Time