Performance/MemShrink/Meetings/2011-08-09

Tools

• mccr8 discussed a blog post on finding leaks using Chrome. Similar process to Firefox, but there are slicker tools. There's a related un-MemShrink'ed bug.
• jst wants us to consider the large list of ideas for MemShrink-related ideas, and volunteered to go through the list to see what isn't being done. He will post a filtered list to the Wiki page.
• sfink is working on some tools to print out JS roots, to make debugging leaks easier.
• dave: working more on endurance tests, but no real updates

Dark Matter Detector

• njn: "drive Dark Matter with data and not guesses"
• njn is working on this. It is up and running, and already finding things. It is turning up a lot of things, so it will keep him busy for a while.
• He said it isn't that slow. The main slow part is printing the output, when you do about:memory.
• It involves a patch to Valgrind trunk and Firefox. Very Firefox-specific, so it probably won't be included in the main distribution of Valgrind or Firefox.
• Having a heap diff style tool might be useful eventually, but right now there's a lot of low-hanging fruit to handle.
• jst wanted to know how much trouble it would be to distribute a pre-built version for people to use more easily. njn thinks it may not be worth it given the very small audience, probably just MemShrink people.
• Valgrind doesn't support Windows.

Unprioritized bugs

• nsTArray: may be more of a perf issue, jlebar is investigating
• spell checking Dark Matter: upstream code, may be difficult to understand, but only two sites that are major contributors.
• various clownshoes bugs, a couple of them require upstream fixes