Skip to content

perf: use global prefix slices to avoid allocations#298

Merged
tzdybal merged 1 commit intomainfrom
tzdybal/reduce_allocs
Aug 26, 2025
Merged

perf: use global prefix slices to avoid allocations#298
tzdybal merged 1 commit intomainfrom
tzdybal/reduce_allocs

Conversation

@tzdybal
Copy link
Contributor

@tzdybal tzdybal commented Aug 26, 2025

Overview

This is a very low-hanging-fruit optimization that significantly (by over 24%) reduces number of allocations (in benchmarks). Before the change, every time node/leaf prefix is used for hashing, small slice was dynamically allocated just to pass single byte. Keeping those slices as global values ensures they are allocated exactly once.

Benchmark results:

$ go-perftuner bstat before.txt after.txt
name                      old time/op    new time/op    delta
ComputeRoot/64-leaves-8      114µs ± 2%     114µs ± 1%        ~  (p=0.841 n=5+5)
ComputeRoot/128-leaves-8     226µs ± 1%     226µs ± 0%        ~  (p=0.730 n=5+4)
ComputeRoot/256-leaves-8     455µs ± 2%     452µs ± 2%        ~  (p=1.000 n=5+5)
ComputeRoot/20k-leaves-8    48.8ms ± 1%    48.4ms ± 2%        ~  (p=0.151 n=5+5)

name                      old alloc/op   new alloc/op   delta
ComputeRoot/64-leaves-8     31.0kB ± 0%    30.4kB ± 0%   -1.86%  (p=0.008 n=5+5)
ComputeRoot/128-leaves-8    55.4kB ± 0%    54.3kB ± 0%   -2.08%  (p=0.008 n=5+5)
ComputeRoot/256-leaves-8     117kB ± 0%     114kB ± 0%   -1.97%  (p=0.000 n=5+4)
ComputeRoot/20k-leaves-8    12.4MB ± 0%    12.2MB ± 0%   -1.46%  (p=0.008 n=5+5)

name                      old allocs/op  new allocs/op  delta
ComputeRoot/64-leaves-8        529 ± 0%       402 ± 0%  -24.01%  (p=0.008 n=5+5)
ComputeRoot/128-leaves-8     1.04k ± 0%     0.79k ± 0%  -24.45%  (p=0.008 n=5+5)
ComputeRoot/256-leaves-8     2.07k ± 0%     1.56k ± 0%  -24.67%  (p=0.008 n=5+5)
ComputeRoot/20k-leaves-8      160k ± 0%      120k ± 0%  -24.97%  (p=0.008 n=5+5)

Copy link

@gemini-code-assist gemini-code-assist bot left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Summary of Changes

Hello @tzdybal, I'm Gemini Code Assist1! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request implements a performance optimization aimed at reducing memory allocations within the hashing process. By introducing global, pre-allocated byte slices for node and leaf prefixes, the change eliminates the need for dynamic allocation of single-byte slices every time a prefix is used for hashing. This results in a substantial decrease in the number of allocations per operation, as evidenced by benchmark results showing over a 24% reduction in allocs/op, without negatively impacting execution time.

Highlights

  • Memory Optimization: Introduced global byte slices for LeafPrefix and NodePrefix to eliminate repeated small allocations.
  • Code Refactoring: Replaced direct []byte{...} creation with references to the new global slices in HashLeaf and HashNode functions.
  • Performance Improvement: Achieved a significant reduction in allocations per operation (over 24%) as demonstrated by benchmark results, with negligible impact on time per operation.
Using Gemini Code Assist

The full guide for Gemini Code Assist can be found on our documentation page, here are some quick tips.

Invoking Gemini

You can request assistance from Gemini at any point in your pull request via creating an issue comment (i.e. comment on the pull request page) using either /gemini <command> or @gemini-code-assist <command>. Below is a summary of the supported commands.

Feature Command Description
Code Review /gemini review Performs a code review for the current pull request in its current state.
Pull Request Summary /gemini summary Provides a summary of the current pull request in its current state.
Comment @gemini-code-assist Responds in comments when explicitly tagged, both in issue comments and review comments.
Help /gemini help Displays a list of available commands.

Customization

To customize Gemini Code Assist for GitHub experience, repository maintainers can create a configuration file and/or provide a custom code review style guide (such as PEP-8 for Python) by creating and adding files to a .gemini/ folder in the base of the repository. Detailed instructions can be found here.

Limitations & Feedback

Gemini Code Assist may make mistakes. Please leave feedback on any instances where its feedback is incorrect or counter productive. You can react with 👍 and 👎 on @gemini-code-assist comments. If you're interested in giving your feedback about your experience with Gemini Code Assist for Github and other Google products, sign up here.

You can also get AI-powered code generation, chat, as well as code reviews directly in the IDE at no cost with the Gemini Code Assist IDE Extension.

Footnotes

  1. Review the Privacy Notices, Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy, Terms of Service, and learn how to configure Gemini Code Assist in GitHub here. Gemini can make mistakes, so double check it and use code with caution.

Copy link

@gemini-code-assist gemini-code-assist bot left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Code Review

This pull request introduces a solid performance optimization by pre-allocating global slices for leaf and node prefixes. This change effectively reduces memory allocations during hashing operations, as demonstrated by the provided benchmark results which show a ~24% reduction in allocs/op. The implementation is straightforward, correct, and follows common Go optimization patterns. Excellent work!

@rach-id
Copy link
Member

rach-id commented Aug 26, 2025

We should release this soon to include it in the performance work.

@tzdybal tzdybal merged commit 7cfbc5f into main Aug 26, 2025
8 checks passed
@tzdybal tzdybal deleted the tzdybal/reduce_allocs branch August 26, 2025 11:40
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

3 participants