Squeezing performance out of v8

Question

Are there any good tutorials on how to write fast, efficient code for v8 (specifically, for node.js)?

What structures should I avoid using? What are the idioms that v8 o

Answer 1

Understanding V8 is a set of slides from nodecamp.eu and gives very some interesting tips. In particular, I found the notes on avoiding "dictionary mode" useful i.e. it helps if you keep the "shape" of objects constant and don't add arbitrary properties to them.

You should also run node with --crankshaft --trace-opt --trace-bailout (the --crankshaft is only needed on 64-bit platforms e.g. OS X) to see whether V8 is "bailing" on JITing certain functions. There is a ton of other trace options including --trace-gc and various other GC tracing, which can be useful for optimisation.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about the slides above as they're a bit concise. :-) They're not mine but I've done some research about the areas they cover.