During development the AEM Publisher server keeps crashing randomly. The deployment included a new static FAQ component that was used in the websites Contact Us page. An Architect investigates to…

Question

Options

• AThe page was not cached in the Dispatcher.
• BThe component triggers a traversal query.
• CThe JVM garbage collection is not running.
• DThe component has a cyclic dependency to itself

• A
  8% (3)
• B
  13% (5)
• C
  30% (12)
• D
  50% (20)

Explanation

Option D is correct because a cyclic dependency means the FAQ component includes itself as a child, triggering infinite recursive instantiation on every render - even a single request spawns an exponential number of component objects, rapidly exhausting heap memory. This perfectly explains all three observations: the heap dump flooded with FAQ instances, the server crashing under very few requests (each one is catastrophic), and the slowdown tied specifically to that page.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (Dispatcher cache): Missing cache means more requests reach the Publisher, but here few requests are already causing crashes - a caching fix would reduce load, not fix unbounded object creation.
• B (Traversal query): An unindexed traversal query causes slow JCR reads but doesn't explain why heap fills with component instances; you'd see query timeouts, not a memory explosion.
• C (GC not running): The JVM GC does run continuously; the real problem is that the cyclic component creates objects faster than GC can collect them - blaming GC misidentifies the symptom as the cause.

Memory tip: Think of the clue trio - few requests + heap full of the same component + page-specific slowdown = something about that component multiplies itself. "Cyclic" = self-referencing loop = infinite copies. If the heap dump names the culprit, the culprit is eating itself.

No community discussion yet for this question.