Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention comprise a class sharing orchestrator (CSO) operating as a subsystem of a container orchestrator. The CSO manages sharing of class data among containerized applications to improve startup performance, CPU consumption and memory footprint. The CSO stores application class data in a shared class cache (SCC). The CSO provides a compatible SCC to every deployed application running within the CSO's purview. The CSO collects SCC data from running applications, and processes the data offline to continuously improve the quality of SCCs provided to each deployment, while causing minimum impact to running applications. The CSO combines updates from running applications of a given type to generate an improved quality SCC for use by newly launched applications of the same type. The CSO comprises an SCC update mechanism that optimizes the size, and network traffic, associated with SCC data exchange, and guarantees SCC quality improves over time.