Java Byte Code Visualizer

Question

What could help me in helping writing highly compact(least byte code count) programs in Java.
Possibly I'm looking at:

• A tool that tells me how many byte codes a Class or a method generates.
• To visualize byte codes.
• The tool could tell me which areas need optimization in terms of byte code count or cpu cycles.
• A byte code chart would also help indicating what byte codes exist in Java and its various properties.

Any existing tools that would help me to realize this?

Answer 1

Eclipse has a Byte Code Outline plug-in that shows you what Java byte code will be produced from your source code.

Answer 2

The javap program that comes with the JDK can disassemble Java classes into bytecode.

You will want to refer to the Java Virtual Machine Specification to understand the meaning of all the bytecodes.