johnthagen/min-sized-rust

Document removing the embedded backtracer

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#78 opened on Apr 13, 2025

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 (1 comment) (4 reactions) (0 assignees)Rust (4,998 stars) (144 forks)batch import
good first issue

Description

As suggested in https://github.com/google/bloaty/issues/110#issuecomment-2571410292 and discussed in a Reddit post, disabling the backtrace feature in std can reduce the binary size by a fixed amount of ~300 kB. This may be significant for programs aiming to be absolutely minimal, e.g. a "Hello, world!" program can be reduced in size by 83%.

This information could be added to the Abort on Panic section, as the embedded backtracer should be unused when aborting on panic!()s.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rust
Domain
documentationperformance
Issue type
documentation
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
under 1 hour
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
None
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
85
Research direction
Modify the 'Abort on Panic' section in README.md to mention that disabling the `backtrace` feature in `std` can further reduce binary size by approximately 300 kB. Reference the linked GitHub issue comment and Reddit post as sources. Ensure the new information is consistent with existing content and test the build if needed to verify the size reduction.
Document removing the embedded backtracer · johnthagen/min-sized-rust#78 | Good First Issue