gleam-lang/gleam

Use memory arena for pretty printing algebra

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#2,251 opened on Jun 29, 2023

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 (0 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Rust (21,417 stars) (960 forks)batch import
help wanted

Description

The pretty printing algebra data structure is represented using a recursive type that is reference counted. Create a new version of this that uses a memory arena (likely a reference based one) and benchmark it to see if there is a notable performance improvement.

If this is determined as being significantly faster, we can convert the formatter and code generators over to use this new version. This would be quite a long manual job.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rust
Domain
performance
Issue type
performance
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Rustmemory arena conceptsbenchmarking
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
20
Research direction
Examine the existing pretty printing algebra implementation in the Gleam compiler source code (likely in the 'pretty' module). Understand the current recursive reference counted data structure. Research memory arena libraries in Rust (e.g., 'bumpalo' or 'typed arena'). Create a prototype version using an arena and benchmark it against the current implementation using Rust's benchmark harness. If significant performance gains are observed, plan the conversion of formatter and code generators.
Use memory arena for pretty printing algebra · gleam-lang/gleam#2251 | Good First Issue