What does a healthy application's heap memory graph look like?

The heap memory graph of a healthy Java application typically appears as a cyclic pattern with a gradual increase in memory usage, followed by a sharp drop after the garbage collector (GC) runs. This indicates that the application allocates objects, memory fills up, then GC frees unused objects, and memory is cleared. Such a pattern repeats regularly and stably without sharp jumps or constant growth, which suggests no memory leaks.

An approximate graph looks like:

Usage ↑
|
|      /\       /\       /\
|     /  \     /  \     /  \
|____/    \___/    \___/    \____

Time →

If the graph shows a continuous increase without decrease, it may indicate a memory leak.