diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/datasketches/count/CountMinSketch.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/datasketches/count/CountMinSketch.java
index 36bea38cf..eb9fb1ce8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/datasketches/count/CountMinSketch.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/datasketches/count/CountMinSketch.java
@@ -22,15 +22,30 @@
 import org.apache.datasketches.common.Family;
 import org.apache.datasketches.common.SketchesArgumentException;
 import org.apache.datasketches.common.SketchesException;
+import org.apache.datasketches.common.Util;
+import org.apache.datasketches.common.positional.PositionalSegment;
 import org.apache.datasketches.hash.MurmurHash3;
-import org.apache.datasketches.tuple.Util;
 
-import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
-import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.lang.foreign.MemorySegment;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.Random;
 
+import static java.lang.foreign.ValueLayout.JAVA_BYTE;
+import static java.lang.foreign.ValueLayout.JAVA_INT_UNALIGNED;
+import static java.lang.foreign.ValueLayout.JAVA_LONG_UNALIGNED;
+import static java.lang.foreign.ValueLayout.JAVA_SHORT_UNALIGNED;
 
+
+/**
+ * Java implementation of the CountMin sketch data structure of Cormode and Muthukrishnan.
+ * This implementation is inspired by and compatible with the datasketches-cpp version by Charlie Dickens.
+ *
+ * The CountMin sketch is a probabilistic data structure that provides frequency estimates for items
+ * in a data stream. It uses multiple hash functions to distribute items across a two-dimensional array,
+ * providing approximate counts with configurable error bounds.
+ *
+ * Reference: http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/~graham/pubs/papers/cm-full.pdf
+ */
 public class CountMinSketch {
   private final byte numHashes_;
   private final int numBuckets_;
@@ -39,6 +54,9 @@ public class CountMinSketch {
   private final long[] sketchArray_;
   private long totalWeight_;
 
+  // Thread-local MemorySegment to avoid allocations in hot paths with explicit endianness control
+  private static final ThreadLocal<MemorySegment> LONG_SEGMENT =
+          ThreadLocal.withInitial(() -> MemorySegment.ofArray(new byte[Long.BYTES]));
 
   private enum Flag {
     IS_EMPTY;
@@ -57,35 +75,64 @@ int mask() {
    * @param seed The base hash seed
    */
   CountMinSketch(final byte numHashes, final int numBuckets, final long seed) {
-    numHashes_ = numHashes;
-    numBuckets_ = numBuckets;
-    seed_ = seed;
-    hashSeeds_ = new long[numHashes];
-    sketchArray_ = new long[numHashes * numBuckets];
-    totalWeight_ = 0;
+    // Validate numHashes
+    if (numHashes <= 0) {
+      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Number of hash functions must be positive, got: " + numHashes);
+    }
 
+    // Validate numBuckets with clear mathematical justification
+    if (numBuckets <= 0) {
+      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Number of buckets must be positive, got: " + numBuckets);
+    }
     if (numBuckets < 3) {
-      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Using fewer than 3 buckets incurs relative error greater than 1.");
+      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Number of buckets must be at least 3 to ensure relative error ≤ 1.0. " +
+          "With " + numBuckets + " buckets, relative error would be " + String.format("%.3f", Math.exp(1.0) / numBuckets));
+    }
+
+    // Check for potential overflow in array size calculation
+    // Use long arithmetic to detect overflow before casting
+    final long totalSize = (long) numHashes * (long) numBuckets;
+    if (totalSize > Integer.MAX_VALUE) {
+      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Sketch array size would overflow: " + numHashes + " * " + numBuckets
+          + " = " + totalSize + " > " + Integer.MAX_VALUE);
     }
 
     // This check is to ensure later compatibility with a Java implementation whose maximum size can only
     // be 2^31-1.  We check only against 2^30 for simplicity.
-    if (numBuckets * numHashes >= 1 << 30) {
-      throw new SketchesArgumentException("These parameters generate a sketch that exceeds 2^30 elements. \n" +
-          "Try reducing either the number of buckets or the number of hash functions.");
+    if (totalSize >= (1L << 30)) {
+      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Sketch would require excessive memory: " + numHashes + " * " + numBuckets
+          + " = " + totalSize + " elements (~" + String.format("%d", totalSize * Long.BYTES / (1024 * 1024 * 1024)) + " GB). "
+          + "Consider reducing numHashes or numBuckets.");
     }
 
-    Random rand = new Random(seed);
+    numHashes_ = numHashes;
+    numBuckets_ = numBuckets;
+    seed_ = seed;
+    hashSeeds_ = new long[numHashes];
+    sketchArray_ = new long[(int) totalSize];
+    totalWeight_ = 0;
+
+    final Random rand = new Random(seed);
     for (int i = 0; i < numHashes; i++) {
       hashSeeds_[i] = rand.nextLong();
     }
   }
 
-  private long[] getHashes(byte[] item) {
-    long[] updateLocations = new long[numHashes_];
+  /**
+   * Efficiently converts a long to byte array using thread-local MemorySegment with explicit endianness.
+   */
+  private static byte[] longToBytes(final long value) {
+    final MemorySegment segment = LONG_SEGMENT.get();
+    segment.set(JAVA_LONG_UNALIGNED, 0, value);
+    return segment.toArray(JAVA_BYTE);
+  }
+
+
+  private long[] getHashes(final byte[] item) {
+    final long[] updateLocations = new long[numHashes_];
 
     for (int i = 0; i < numHashes_; i++) {
-      long[] index = MurmurHash3.hash(item, hashSeeds_[i]);
+      final long[] index = MurmurHash3.hash(item, hashSeeds_[i]);
       updateLocations[i] = i * (long)numBuckets_ + Math.floorMod(index[0], numBuckets_);
     }
 
@@ -145,11 +192,11 @@ public double getRelativeError() {
    * @param confidence The desired confidence level between 0 and 1.
    * @return Suggested number of hash functions.
    */
-  public static byte suggestNumHashes(double confidence) {
+  public static byte suggestNumHashes(final double confidence) {
     if (confidence < 0 || confidence > 1) {
       throw new SketchesException("Confidence must be between 0 and 1.0 (inclusive).");
     }
-    int value = (int) Math.ceil(Math.log(1.0 / (1.0 - confidence)));
+    final int value = (int) Math.ceil(Math.log(1.0 / (1.0 - confidence)));
     return (byte) Math.min(value, 127);
   }
 
@@ -158,7 +205,7 @@ public static byte suggestNumHashes(double confidence) {
    * @param relativeError The desired relative error.
    * @return Suggested number of buckets.
    */
-  public static int suggestNumBuckets(double relativeError) {
+  public static int suggestNumBuckets(final double relativeError) {
     if (relativeError < 0.) {
       throw new SketchesException("Relative error must be at least 0.");
     }
@@ -171,8 +218,7 @@ public static int suggestNumBuckets(double relativeError) {
    * @param weight The weight of the item.
    */
   public void update(final long item, final long weight) {
-    byte[] longByte = ByteBuffer.allocate(8).putLong(item).array();
-    update(longByte, weight);
+    update(longToBytes(item), weight);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -199,8 +245,8 @@ public void update(final byte[] item, final long weight) {
     }
 
     totalWeight_ += weight > 0 ? weight : -weight;
-    long[] hashLocations = getHashes(item);
-    for (long h : hashLocations) {
+    final long[] hashLocations = getHashes(item);
+    for (final long h : hashLocations) {
       sketchArray_[(int) h] += weight;
     }
   }
@@ -211,8 +257,7 @@ public void update(final byte[] item, final long weight) {
    * @return Estimated frequency.
    */
   public long getEstimate(final long item) {
-    byte[] longByte = ByteBuffer.allocate(8).putLong(item).array();
-    return getEstimate(longByte);
+    return getEstimate(longToBytes(item));
   }
 
   /**
@@ -239,10 +284,11 @@ public long getEstimate(final byte[] item) {
       return 0;
     }
 
-    long[] hashLocations = getHashes(item);
+    final long[] hashLocations = getHashes(item);
     long res = sketchArray_[(int) hashLocations[0]];
-    for (long h : hashLocations) {
-      res = Math.min(res,  sketchArray_[(int) h]);
+    // Start from index 1 to avoid processing first element twice
+    for (int i = 1; i < hashLocations.length; i++) {
+      res = Math.min(res, sketchArray_[(int) hashLocations[i]]);
     }
 
     return res;
@@ -254,8 +300,7 @@ public long getEstimate(final byte[] item) {
    * @return Upper bound of estimated frequency.
    */
   public long getUpperBound(final long item) {
-    byte[] longByte = ByteBuffer.allocate(8).putLong(item).array();
-    return getUpperBound(longByte);
+    return getUpperBound(longToBytes(item));
   }
 
   /**
@@ -268,8 +313,8 @@ public long getUpperBound(final String item) {
       return 0;
     }
 
-    byte[] strByte = item.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
-    return  getUpperBound(strByte);
+    final byte[] strByte = item.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+    return getUpperBound(strByte);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -291,8 +336,7 @@ public long getUpperBound(final byte[] item) {
    * @return Lower bound of estimated frequency.
    */
   public long getLowerBound(final long item) {
-    byte[] longByte = ByteBuffer.allocate(8).putLong(item).array();
-    return getLowerBound(longByte);
+    return getLowerBound(longToBytes(item));
   }
 
   /**
@@ -305,7 +349,7 @@ public long getLowerBound(final String item) {
       return 0;
     }
 
-    byte[] strByte = item.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+    final byte[] strByte = item.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
     return getLowerBound(strByte);
   }
 
@@ -327,8 +371,8 @@ public void merge(final CountMinSketch other) {
       throw new SketchesException("Cannot merge a sketch with itself");
     }
 
-    boolean acceptableConfig = getNumBuckets_() == other.getNumBuckets_() &&
-        getNumHashes_() == other.getNumHashes_() && getSeed_() == other.getSeed_();
+    final boolean acceptableConfig = getNumBuckets_() == other.getNumBuckets_()
+        && getNumHashes_() == other.getNumHashes_() && getSeed_() == other.getSeed_();
 
     if (!acceptableConfig) {
       throw new SketchesException("Incompatible sketch configuration.");
@@ -342,39 +386,56 @@ public void merge(final CountMinSketch other) {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Serializes the sketch into the provided ByteBuffer.
-   * @param buf The ByteBuffer to write into.
+   * Returns the serialized size in bytes.
+   */
+  private int getSerializedSizeBytes() {
+    final int preambleBytes = Family.COUNTMIN.getMinPreLongs() * Long.BYTES;
+    if (isEmpty()) {
+      return preambleBytes;
+    }
+    return preambleBytes + Long.BYTES + (sketchArray_.length * Long.BYTES);
+  }
+
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the sketch as a byte array.
    */
-  public void serialize(ByteArrayOutputStream buf) {
+  public byte[] toByteArray() {
+    final int serializedSizeBytes = getSerializedSizeBytes();
+    final byte[] bytes = new byte[serializedSizeBytes];
+    final PositionalSegment posSeg = PositionalSegment.wrap(MemorySegment.ofArray(bytes));
+
     // Long 0
     final int preambleLongs = Family.COUNTMIN.getMinPreLongs();
-    buf.write((byte) preambleLongs);
+    posSeg.setByte((byte) preambleLongs);
     final int serialVersion = 1;
-    buf.write((byte) serialVersion);
+    posSeg.setByte((byte) serialVersion);
     final int familyId = Family.COUNTMIN.getID();
-    buf.write((byte) familyId);
+    posSeg.setByte((byte) familyId);
     final int flagsByte = isEmpty() ? Flag.IS_EMPTY.mask() : 0;
-    buf.write((byte)flagsByte);
+    posSeg.setByte((byte) flagsByte);
     final int NULL_32 = 0;
-    buf.writeBytes(ByteBuffer.allocate(4).putInt(NULL_32).array());
+    posSeg.setInt(NULL_32);
 
     // Long 1
-    buf.writeBytes(ByteBuffer.allocate(4).putInt(numBuckets_).array());
-    buf.write(numHashes_);
-    short hashSeed = Util.computeSeedHash(seed_);
-    buf.writeBytes(ByteBuffer.allocate(2).putShort(hashSeed).array());
+    posSeg.setInt(numBuckets_);
+    posSeg.setByte(numHashes_);
+    final short hashSeed = Util.computeSeedHash(seed_);
+    posSeg.setShort(hashSeed);
     final byte NULL_8 = 0;
-    buf.write(NULL_8);
+    posSeg.setByte(NULL_8);
+
     if (isEmpty()) {
-      return;
+      return bytes;
     }
 
-    final byte[] totWeightByte = ByteBuffer.allocate(8).putLong(totalWeight_).array();
-    buf.writeBytes(totWeightByte);
+    posSeg.setLong(totalWeight_);
 
-    for (long w: sketchArray_) {
-      buf.writeBytes(ByteBuffer.allocate(8).putLong(w).array());
+    for (final long w: sketchArray_) {
+      posSeg.setLong(w);
     }
+
+    return bytes;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -384,36 +445,51 @@ public void serialize(ByteArrayOutputStream buf) {
    * @return The deserialized CountMinSketch.
    */
   public static CountMinSketch deserialize(final byte[] b, final long seed) {
-    ByteBuffer buf = ByteBuffer.allocate(b.length);
-    buf.put(b);
-    buf.flip();
-
-    final byte preambleLongs = buf.get();
-    final byte serialVersion = buf.get();
-    final byte familyId = buf.get();
-    final byte flagsByte = buf.get();
-    final int NULL_32 = buf.getInt();
+    final PositionalSegment posSeg = PositionalSegment.wrap(MemorySegment.ofArray(b));
+
+    final byte preambleLongs = posSeg.getByte();
+    final byte serialVersion = posSeg.getByte();
+    final byte familyId = posSeg.getByte();
+    final byte flagsByte = posSeg.getByte();
+    posSeg.getInt(); // skip NULL_32
+
+    // Validate serialization format
+    final int expectedPreambleLongs = Family.COUNTMIN.getMinPreLongs();
+    if (preambleLongs != expectedPreambleLongs) {
+      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Preamble longs mismatch: expected " + expectedPreambleLongs
+          + ", actual " + preambleLongs);
+    }
+    final int expectedSerialVersion = 1;
+    if (serialVersion != expectedSerialVersion) {
+      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Serial version mismatch: expected " + expectedSerialVersion
+          + ", actual " + serialVersion);
+    }
+    final int expectedFamilyId = Family.COUNTMIN.getID();
+    if (familyId != expectedFamilyId) {
+      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Family ID mismatch: expected " + expectedFamilyId
+          + ", actual " + familyId);
+    }
 
-    final int numBuckets = buf.getInt();
-    final byte numHashes = buf.get();
-    final short seedHash = buf.getShort();
-    final byte NULL_8 = buf.get();
+    final int numBuckets = posSeg.getInt();
+    final byte numHashes = posSeg.getByte();
+    final short seedHash = posSeg.getShort();
+    posSeg.getByte(); // skip NULL_8
 
     if (seedHash != Util.computeSeedHash(seed)) {
-      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Incompatible seed hashes: " + String.valueOf(seedHash) + ", "
-          + String.valueOf(Util.computeSeedHash(seed)));
+      throw new SketchesArgumentException("Incompatible seed hashes: " + seedHash + ", "
+          + Util.computeSeedHash(seed));
     }
 
-    CountMinSketch cms = new CountMinSketch(numHashes, numBuckets, seed);
+    final CountMinSketch cms = new CountMinSketch(numHashes, numBuckets, seed);
     final boolean empty = (flagsByte & Flag.IS_EMPTY.mask()) > 0;
     if (empty) {
       return cms;
     }
-    long w =  buf.getLong();
+    final long w = posSeg.getLong();
     cms.totalWeight_ = w;
 
     for (int i = 0; i < cms.sketchArray_.length; i++) {
-      cms.sketchArray_[i] = buf.getLong();
+      cms.sketchArray_[i] = posSeg.getLong();
     }
 
     return cms;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/datasketches/count/CountMinSketchTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/datasketches/count/CountMinSketchTest.java
index cbd2fde79..cdf42c3b0 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/datasketches/count/CountMinSketchTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/datasketches/count/CountMinSketchTest.java
@@ -203,10 +203,7 @@ public void serializeDeserializeEmptyTest() {
     final long seed = 123456;
     CountMinSketch c = new CountMinSketch(numHashes, numBuckets, seed);
 
-    ByteArrayOutputStream buf = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
-    c.serialize(buf);
-
-    byte[] b = buf.toByteArray();
+    byte[] b = c.toByteArray();
     assertThrows(SketchesArgumentException.class, () -> CountMinSketch.deserialize(b, seed - 1));
 
     CountMinSketch d = CountMinSketch.deserialize(b, seed);
@@ -228,11 +225,10 @@ public void serializeDeserializeTest() {
       c.update(i, 10*i*i);
     }
 
-    ByteArrayOutputStream buf = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
-    c.serialize(buf);
+    byte[] b = c.toByteArray();
 
-    assertThrows(SketchesArgumentException.class, () -> CountMinSketch.deserialize(buf.toByteArray(), seed - 1));
-    CountMinSketch d = CountMinSketch.deserialize(buf.toByteArray(), seed);
+    assertThrows(SketchesArgumentException.class, () -> CountMinSketch.deserialize(b, seed - 1));
+    CountMinSketch d = CountMinSketch.deserialize(b, seed);
 
     assertEquals(d.getNumHashes_(), c.getNumHashes_());
     assertEquals(d.getNumBuckets_(), c.getNumBuckets_());
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/datasketches/cpc/CpcSketchCrossLanguageTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/datasketches/cpc/CpcSketchCrossLanguageTest.java
index 16cc55db9..906f1a52a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/datasketches/cpc/CpcSketchCrossLanguageTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/datasketches/cpc/CpcSketchCrossLanguageTest.java
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ public void checkAllFlavorsGo() throws IOException {
     int flavorIdx = 0;
     for (int n: nArr) {
       final byte[] bytes = Files.readAllBytes(goPath.resolve("cpc_n" + n + "_go.sk"));
-      final CpcSketch sketch = CpcSketch.heapify(Memory.wrap(bytes));
+      final CpcSketch sketch = CpcSketch.heapify(MemorySegment.ofArray(bytes));
       assertEquals(sketch.getFlavor(), flavorArr[flavorIdx++]);
       assertEquals(sketch.getEstimate(), n, n * 0.02);
     }