diff -r 51612f0c0a79 -r fc9d8850ab8b src/share/vm/classfile/symbolTable.hpp
--- a/src/share/vm/classfile/symbolTable.hpp	Thu Mar 15 13:37:13 2012 +0100
+++ b/src/share/vm/classfile/symbolTable.hpp	Fri Mar 23 11:16:05 2012 -0400
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 1997, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 1997, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -82,24 +82,24 @@
   static int symbols_removed;
   static int symbols_counted;
 
-  Symbol* allocate_symbol(const u1* name, int len, TRAPS);   // Assumes no characters larger than 0x7F
-  bool allocate_symbols(int names_count, const u1** names, int* lengths, Symbol** syms, TRAPS);
+  Symbol* allocate_symbol(const u1* name, int len, bool c_heap, TRAPS); // Assumes no characters larger than 0x7F
 
   // Adding elements
-  Symbol* basic_add(int index, u1* name, int len,
-                      unsigned int hashValue, TRAPS);
-  bool basic_add(constantPoolHandle cp, int names_count,
+  Symbol* basic_add(int index, u1* name, int len, unsigned int hashValue,
+                    bool c_heap, TRAPS);
+
+  bool basic_add(Handle class_loader, constantPoolHandle cp, int names_count,
                  const char** names, int* lengths, int* cp_indices,
                  unsigned int* hashValues, TRAPS);
 
-  static void new_symbols(constantPoolHandle cp, int names_count,
+  static void new_symbols(Handle class_loader, constantPoolHandle cp,
+                          int names_count,
                           const char** name, int* lengths,
                           int* cp_indices, unsigned int* hashValues,
                           TRAPS) {
-    add(cp, names_count, name, lengths, cp_indices, hashValues, THREAD);
+    add(class_loader, cp, names_count, name, lengths, cp_indices, hashValues, THREAD);
   }
 
-
   // Table size
   enum {
     symbol_table_size = 20011
@@ -114,10 +114,16 @@
     : Hashtable<Symbol*>(symbol_table_size, sizeof (HashtableEntry<Symbol*>), t,
                 number_of_entries) {}
 
+  // Arena for permanent symbols (null class loader) that are never unloaded
+  static Arena*  _arena;
+  static Arena* arena() { return _arena; }  // called for statistics
 
+  static void initialize_symbols(int arena_alloc_size = 0);
 public:
   enum {
-    symbol_alloc_batch_size = 8
+    symbol_alloc_batch_size = 8,
+    // Pick initial size based on java -version size measurements
+    symbol_alloc_arena_size = 360*K
   };
 
   // The symbol table
@@ -126,6 +132,7 @@
   static void create_table() {
     assert(_the_table == NULL, "One symbol table allowed.");
     _the_table = new SymbolTable();
+    initialize_symbols(symbol_alloc_arena_size);
   }
 
   static void create_table(HashtableBucket* t, int length,
@@ -134,6 +141,9 @@
     assert(length == symbol_table_size * sizeof(HashtableBucket),
            "bad shared symbol size.");
     _the_table = new SymbolTable(t, number_of_entries);
+    // if CDS give symbol table a default arena size since most symbols
+    // are already allocated in the shared misc section.
+    initialize_symbols();
   }
 
   static Symbol* lookup(const char* name, int len, TRAPS);
@@ -151,7 +161,7 @@
   static Symbol* lookup_unicode(const jchar* name, int len, TRAPS);
   static Symbol* lookup_only_unicode(const jchar* name, int len, unsigned int& hash);
 
-  static void add(constantPoolHandle cp, int names_count,
+  static void add(Handle class_loader, constantPoolHandle cp, int names_count,
                   const char** names, int* lengths, int* cp_indices,
                   unsigned int* hashValues, TRAPS);
 
@@ -174,6 +184,9 @@
     return lookup(sym, begin, end, THREAD);
   }
 
+  // Create a symbol in the arena for symbols that are not deleted
+  static Symbol* new_permanent_symbol(const char* name, TRAPS);
+
   // Symbol lookup
   static Symbol* lookup(int index, const char* name, int len, TRAPS);