A DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUEST :
Currently, the only way to initialize array data in classfiles is to go through bytecode instructions that sets the values of array elements. As a result, some classes e.g. CharacterData which works with large primitive array types has enormous static initializers that executes the instructions to load a const value followed by one that stores the value into a array element for each array element that has an initial value.

Ideally, there would be some way to specify a constant array of primitive data in the classfile. This would help with some startup performance as well as possibly provide some footprint savings (via a more compact representation of the initialization data instead of representing them as sequence of bytecodes).

JUSTIFICATION :
This enhancement will help improve system startup time as well as possibly provide some footprint savings.

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
The classfile allows for the specification an array of constant data as the initial value for primitive arrays. This can be expressed at the JLS level, but cannot be captured in the classfile.
ACTUAL -
The primitive arrays are initialize using a sequence of bytecode instructions to set each array element to its initial value.