What you are saying is true but even when you use optimized frameworks like Micronaut and stay below e.g. 50MB java heap usage you still end up using more RAM than what the Java heap says. Even the most optimized Java program on the planet will be beaten by a carelessly written C++ program. At least in terms of memory usage. I know it because I once wrote a React app with a C++ backend that also included sqlite. The C++ version needed 4MB of RAM at worst. Meanwhile the Java version didn't even include a database!