> On Nov 28, 2013, at 12:59 AM, Brandon Andrews <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> Lately I've been writing very processor heavy Javascript. I feel like it
> could benefit a lot from having a syntax feature for removing debug
> statements. Obviously JS is interpreted and not compiled,
> so I'm not sure if this sounds completely unrealistic, but it has some very
> useful scenarios.
>
> I like to write verbose type checking for functions to check ranges and throw
> exceptions if invalid input is detected. The issue is in a production
> environment (especially with games) the code executes too slowly with all the
> extra branches. It would be nice if there was a simple syntax to treat code
> as if it's commented out when a flag is set. In some languages this is done
> with preprocessor statements like:
>
>
> #if debug
>
> console.log("Debug Mode");
>
> #else
>
> console.log("Release Mode");
>
> #endif
>
> The alternative is simply:
>
> const debug = false;
>
> if (debug)
> {
> // Tons of type checking
>
> }
This falls firmly within the realm of things that a JS engine should be able to
infer automatically and so using const isn't useful from a performance
standpoint.
You will get the same effect from "var debug = false".
This will probably already get optimized the way you want by optimizing JITs.
If it isn't then you should file bugs against those JITs. No need to change the
language.
Here's why var is good enough provided that you do the "var debug = false"
thing at the top of the function:
- it's obvious that the variable is only assigned once and that it's assigned
before any use.
- "var" is one of the few JS constructs that lends itself naturally to static
reasoning, unless you use eval or with. What this means is that every use of
"debug" can be folded to its One True Value (I.e. "false" in this case) unless
you use it from within a "with" or you have an eval statement in the same scope
(how well a JS engine handles eval statements varies greatly so don't use eval
if you want performance).
All of the examples you give will work properly if you say "var" instead of
"const".
Here's an example of eval being a hater:
function foo() {
var debug = false;
eval(blah); // did this change debug or not? It's fair to assume that a JS
engine will conservatively assume that debug gets changed by this.
if (debug) console.log("things");
}
So, I guess we could concede that const would be useful if you had such evals,
but then again, if you have such evals then an "if (debug)" statement not
getting folded is the least of your performance worries. Eval is kinda slow. ;-)
Now, some insight into why you might currently be seeing a performance
difference with or without the "if (debug)" statements:
- if you're defining debug in an outer function and using it in a nested
function. Even though that's easy to optimize some engines may fail to do it.
File bugs against those engines.
- if an engine is seeing that blob of dead code and allowing it to affect
inlining heuristics. This is a classic inlined bug; heck even C compiler people
still have to fix performance bugs due to stuff like this. Again, file bugs
against engines.
If you can come up with an example program that runs faster without an "if
(debug)" than with it, then file a bug against the relevant engines with that
program attached.
>
>
> What I'd expect would be possible for an implementer is to get to the
> constant and evaluate the branch and remove the whole statement before
> running it through the JIT. This would allow a very standard way to turn on
> and off pieces of code. An example program:
>
>
> // Debug Off Control
> {
> console.time("benchmark control");
> for (var i = 0; i < 10000000; ++i)
> {
> }
> console.timeEnd("benchmark control");
> }
> // Debug Off
> {
> const debugOff = false;
> var debugOffCounter = 0;
> console.time("benchmark debug off");
> for (var i = 0; i < 10000000; ++i)
> {
> if (debugOff)
> {
> debugOffCounter++;
> }
> }
> console.timeEnd("benchmark debug off");
> }
> // Debug On
> {
> const debugOn = true;
> var debugOnCounter = 0;
> console.time("benchmark debug on");
> for (var i = 0; i < 10000000; ++i)
> {
> if (debugOn)
> {
> debugOnCounter++;
> }
> }
> console.timeEnd("benchmark debug on");
> }
>
>
> http://jsfiddle.net/9LCra/
>
>
> On the latest Firefox there's a 11 ms difference between the control and
> using a constant in the if. In chrome there's a 23 ms difference. Is there
> anything stopping an implementer from evaluating the constant and making the
> control and debug off identical in performance?
>
> I kind of want this to be like a standard goto technique that's expected to
> work since I believe right now the alternative is to simply create two files
> or remove anything that might slow things down.
>
> I decided to post here first in case there's a fundamental reason that such a
> use case would be impossible or if an alternative was in the works that would
> fit this goal.
>
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