tools: speedup compilation of js2c output #48160

kvakil · 2023-05-25T01:02:05Z

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 9 seconds and 830 MB of memory to compile gen/node_javascript.cc with g++. This is the longest step when recompiling a small change to a Javascript file.

gen/node_javascript.cc contains a lot of large binary literals of our Javascript source code. It is well-known that embedding large binary literals as C/C++ arrays is slow. One workaround is to include the data as string literals instead. This is particularly nice for the Javascript included via js2c, which look better as string literals anyway.

Add a new flag --use-string-literals to js2c. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals, i.e.:

// old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... };
static const uint8_t *X = R"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee";

// old: static const uint16_t Y[] = { ... };
static const uint16_t *Y = uR"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee";

This requires some modest refactoring in order to deal with the flag being on or off, but the new code itself is actually shorter.

I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation by 5.5s (9.0s -> 3.5s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 2.2s (3.7s -> 1.5s). (I don't think this flag will work with MSVC, but it'd probably speed up clang on windows.)

The long-term goal here is probably to allow this to occur incrementally per Javascript file & in parallel, to avoid recompiling all of gen/node_javascript.cc. Unfortunately the necessary gyp incantations seem impossible (or at least, far beyond me). Anyway, a 60% speedup is a nice enough win.

Refs: #47984

nodejs-github-bot · 2023-05-25T01:02:10Z

Review requested:

@nodejs/gyp

anonrig

Thank you for your contribution. I've left several comments and questions. I appreciate you following up with the issue and with this pull request, but especially for your time.

tools/js2c.cc

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 5.6 seconds to compile `gen/node_snapshot.cc` with g++. As in the previous PR which dealt with `node_js2c`, we add a new flag `--use-string-literals` to `node_mksnapshot`. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals for the snapshot blob and for the code cache, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = "..."; ``` I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation of this file by 3.7s (5.8s -> 2.1s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 1.7s (3.4s -> 1.7s). Again, the right thing here is probably to generate separate files for the snapshot blob and for each code cache output, but this is a nice intermediate speedup. The thing I'm most unsure about in this PR is how to actually thread the argument through. I considered adding it to the general argument parser, but that felt strange, since this flag only makes sense during the build process. So I kind of hacked it in, which also feels weird. Suggestions are very welcome. Refs: nodejs#47984 Refs: nodejs#48160

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 5.8 seconds to compile `gen/node_snapshot.cc` with g++. As in the previous PR which dealt with `node_js2c`, we add a new flag `--use-string-literals` to `node_mksnapshot`. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals for the snapshot blob and for the code cache, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = "..."; ``` I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation of this file by 3.7s (5.8s -> 2.1s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 1.7s (3.4s -> 1.7s). Again, the right thing here is probably to generate separate files for the snapshot blob and for each code cache output, but this is a nice intermediate speedup. The thing I'm most unsure about in this PR is how to actually thread the argument through. I considered adding it to the general argument parser, but that felt strange, since this flag only makes sense during the build process. So I kind of hacked it in, which also feels weird. Suggestions are very welcome. Refs: nodejs#47984 Refs: nodejs#48160

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 5.8 seconds to compile `gen/node_snapshot.cc` with g++. As in the previous PR which dealt with `node_js2c`, we add a new build define `NODE_MKSNAPSHOT_USE_STRING_LITERALS` which is used by `node_mksnapshot`. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals for the snapshot blob and for the code cache, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = "..."; ``` I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation of this file by 3.7s (5.8s -> 2.1s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 1.7s (3.4s -> 1.7s). Again, the right thing here is probably to generate separate files for the snapshot blob and for each code cache output, but this is a nice intermediate speedup. Refs: nodejs#47984 Refs: nodejs#48160

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 9 seconds and 830 MB of memory to compile `gen/node_javascript.cc` with g++. This is the longest step when recompiling a small change to a Javascript file. `gen/node_javascript.cc` contains a lot of large binary literals of our Javascript source code. It is well-known that embedding large binary literals as C/C++ arrays is slow. One workaround is to include the data as string literals instead. This is particularly nice for the Javascript included via js2c, which look better as string literals anyway. Add a build flag `NODE_JS2C_USE_STRING_LITERALS` to js2c. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = R"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee"; // old: static const uint16_t Y[] = { ... }; static const uint16_t *Y = uR"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee"; ``` This requires some modest refactoring in order to deal with the flag being on or off, but the new code itself is actually shorter. I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation by 5.5s (9.0s -> 3.5s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 2.2s (3.7s -> 1.5s). (I don't think this flag will work with MSVC, but it'd probably speed up clang on windows.) The long-term goal here is probably to allow this to occur incrementally per Javascript file & in parallel, to avoid recompiling all of `gen/node_javascript.cc`. Unfortunately the necessary gyp incantations seem impossible (or at least, far beyond me). Anyway, a 60% speedup is a nice enough win. Refs: nodejs#47984

nodejs-github-bot · 2023-05-25T18:14:40Z

CI: https://ci.nodejs.org/job/node-test-pull-request/51966/

nodejs-github-bot · 2023-05-31T16:28:16Z

CI: https://ci.nodejs.org/job/node-test-pull-request/52029/

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 5.8 seconds to compile `gen/node_snapshot.cc` with g++. As in the previous PR which dealt with `node_js2c`, we add a new build define `NODE_MKSNAPSHOT_USE_STRING_LITERALS` which is used by `node_mksnapshot`. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals for the snapshot blob and for the code cache, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = "..."; ``` I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation of this file by 3.7s (5.8s -> 2.1s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 1.7s (3.4s -> 1.7s). Again, the right thing here is probably to generate separate files for the snapshot blob and for each code cache output, but this is a nice intermediate speedup. Refs: #47984 Refs: #48160 PR-URL: #48162 Reviewed-By: Yagiz Nizipli <yagiz@nizipli.com> Reviewed-By: Joyee Cheung <joyeec9h3@gmail.com>

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 5.8 seconds to compile `gen/node_snapshot.cc` with g++. As in the previous PR which dealt with `node_js2c`, we add a new build define `NODE_MKSNAPSHOT_USE_STRING_LITERALS` which is used by `node_mksnapshot`. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals for the snapshot blob and for the code cache, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = "..."; ``` I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation of this file by 3.7s (5.8s -> 2.1s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 1.7s (3.4s -> 1.7s). Again, the right thing here is probably to generate separate files for the snapshot blob and for each code cache output, but this is a nice intermediate speedup. Refs: nodejs#47984 Refs: nodejs#48160 PR-URL: nodejs#48162 Reviewed-By: Yagiz Nizipli <yagiz@nizipli.com> Reviewed-By: Joyee Cheung <joyeec9h3@gmail.com>

nodejs-github-bot · 2023-06-22T02:52:21Z

CI: https://ci.nodejs.org/job/node-test-pull-request/52337/

nodejs-github-bot · 2023-06-22T22:17:53Z

CI: https://ci.nodejs.org/job/node-test-pull-request/52371/

nodejs-github-bot · 2023-06-23T00:11:12Z

CI: https://ci.nodejs.org/job/node-test-pull-request/52376/

nodejs-github-bot · 2023-06-24T15:52:31Z

Landed in 5c1233d

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 9 seconds and 830 MB of memory to compile `gen/node_javascript.cc` with g++. This is the longest step when recompiling a small change to a Javascript file. `gen/node_javascript.cc` contains a lot of large binary literals of our Javascript source code. It is well-known that embedding large binary literals as C/C++ arrays is slow. One workaround is to include the data as string literals instead. This is particularly nice for the Javascript included via js2c, which look better as string literals anyway. Add a build flag `NODE_JS2C_USE_STRING_LITERALS` to js2c. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = R"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee"; // old: static const uint16_t Y[] = { ... }; static const uint16_t *Y = uR"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee"; ``` This requires some modest refactoring in order to deal with the flag being on or off, but the new code itself is actually shorter. I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation by 5.5s (9.0s -> 3.5s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 2.2s (3.7s -> 1.5s). (I don't think this flag will work with MSVC, but it'd probably speed up clang on windows.) The long-term goal here is probably to allow this to occur incrementally per Javascript file & in parallel, to avoid recompiling all of `gen/node_javascript.cc`. Unfortunately the necessary gyp incantations seem impossible (or at least, far beyond me). Anyway, a 60% speedup is a nice enough win. Refs: #47984 PR-URL: #48160 Reviewed-By: Yagiz Nizipli <yagiz@nizipli.com> Reviewed-By: Joyee Cheung <joyeec9h3@gmail.com>

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 5.8 seconds to compile `gen/node_snapshot.cc` with g++. As in the previous PR which dealt with `node_js2c`, we add a new build define `NODE_MKSNAPSHOT_USE_STRING_LITERALS` which is used by `node_mksnapshot`. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals for the snapshot blob and for the code cache, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = "..."; ``` I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation of this file by 3.7s (5.8s -> 2.1s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 1.7s (3.4s -> 1.7s). Again, the right thing here is probably to generate separate files for the snapshot blob and for each code cache output, but this is a nice intermediate speedup. Refs: nodejs#47984 Refs: nodejs#48160 PR-URL: nodejs#48162 Reviewed-By: Yagiz Nizipli <yagiz@nizipli.com> Reviewed-By: Joyee Cheung <joyeec9h3@gmail.com>

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 9 seconds and 830 MB of memory to compile `gen/node_javascript.cc` with g++. This is the longest step when recompiling a small change to a Javascript file. `gen/node_javascript.cc` contains a lot of large binary literals of our Javascript source code. It is well-known that embedding large binary literals as C/C++ arrays is slow. One workaround is to include the data as string literals instead. This is particularly nice for the Javascript included via js2c, which look better as string literals anyway. Add a build flag `NODE_JS2C_USE_STRING_LITERALS` to js2c. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = R"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee"; // old: static const uint16_t Y[] = { ... }; static const uint16_t *Y = uR"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee"; ``` This requires some modest refactoring in order to deal with the flag being on or off, but the new code itself is actually shorter. I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation by 5.5s (9.0s -> 3.5s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 2.2s (3.7s -> 1.5s). (I don't think this flag will work with MSVC, but it'd probably speed up clang on windows.) The long-term goal here is probably to allow this to occur incrementally per Javascript file & in parallel, to avoid recompiling all of `gen/node_javascript.cc`. Unfortunately the necessary gyp incantations seem impossible (or at least, far beyond me). Anyway, a 60% speedup is a nice enough win. Refs: nodejs#47984 PR-URL: nodejs#48160 Reviewed-By: Yagiz Nizipli <yagiz@nizipli.com> Reviewed-By: Joyee Cheung <joyeec9h3@gmail.com>

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 5.8 seconds to compile `gen/node_snapshot.cc` with g++. As in the previous PR which dealt with `node_js2c`, we add a new build define `NODE_MKSNAPSHOT_USE_STRING_LITERALS` which is used by `node_mksnapshot`. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals for the snapshot blob and for the code cache, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = "..."; ``` I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation of this file by 3.7s (5.8s -> 2.1s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 1.7s (3.4s -> 1.7s). Again, the right thing here is probably to generate separate files for the snapshot blob and for each code cache output, but this is a nice intermediate speedup. Refs: nodejs#47984 Refs: nodejs#48160 PR-URL: nodejs#48162 Reviewed-By: Yagiz Nizipli <yagiz@nizipli.com> Reviewed-By: Joyee Cheung <joyeec9h3@gmail.com>

Incremental compilation of Node.js is slow. Currently on a powerful Linux machine, it takes about 9 seconds and 830 MB of memory to compile `gen/node_javascript.cc` with g++. This is the longest step when recompiling a small change to a Javascript file. `gen/node_javascript.cc` contains a lot of large binary literals of our Javascript source code. It is well-known that embedding large binary literals as C/C++ arrays is slow. One workaround is to include the data as string literals instead. This is particularly nice for the Javascript included via js2c, which look better as string literals anyway. Add a build flag `NODE_JS2C_USE_STRING_LITERALS` to js2c. When this flag is set, we emit string literals instead of array literals, i.e.: ```c++ // old: static const uint8_t X[] = { ... }; static const uint8_t *X = R"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee"; // old: static const uint16_t Y[] = { ... }; static const uint16_t *Y = uR"JS2C1b732aee(...)JS2C1b732aee"; ``` This requires some modest refactoring in order to deal with the flag being on or off, but the new code itself is actually shorter. I only enabled the new flag on Linux/macOS, since those are systems that I have available for testing. On my Linux system with gcc, it speeds up compilation by 5.5s (9.0s -> 3.5s). On my Mac system with clang, it speeds up compilation by 2.2s (3.7s -> 1.5s). (I don't think this flag will work with MSVC, but it'd probably speed up clang on windows.) The long-term goal here is probably to allow this to occur incrementally per Javascript file & in parallel, to avoid recompiling all of `gen/node_javascript.cc`. Unfortunately the necessary gyp incantations seem impossible (or at least, far beyond me). Anyway, a 60% speedup is a nice enough win. Refs: nodejs#47984 PR-URL: nodejs#48160 Reviewed-By: Yagiz Nizipli <yagiz@nizipli.com> Reviewed-By: Joyee Cheung <joyeec9h3@gmail.com>

ruyadorno · 2023-09-10T03:31:58Z

This commit does not land cleanly on v18.x-staging and will need manual backport in case we want it in v18.

nodejs-github-bot added build Issues and PRs related to build files or the CI. needs-ci PRs that need a full CI run. tools Issues and PRs related to the tools directory. labels May 25, 2023

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build: speedup compilation of mksnapshot output #48162

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kvakil force-pushed the speedup-js2c-recompile branch from 9fd8109 to e5506b1 Compare May 25, 2023 17:55

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This was referenced Jun 2, 2023

CI Reliability 2023-06-02 nodejs/reliability#583

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CI Reliability 2023-06-03 nodejs/reliability#584

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RafaelGSS mentioned this pull request Jul 3, 2023

v20.4.0 proposal #48643

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tools: speedup compilation of js2c output #48160

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