Performance
Instrumenting Redis for Structural Leak Detection: A jemalloc Deep Dive
Instrumented Redis 7.2 with drainability profiling to measure jemalloc slab fragmentation. Found critical asymmetric accounting bug, fixed with symmetric fastpath instrumentation. Final result: deleting 50% of keys freed 195K objects but achieved 0% drainability - genuine structural fragmentation detected and validated.
Understanding Memory Metrics: RSS, VSZ, USS, PSS, and Working Sets
Why does
free show 1GB available but your app OOM’d? Why is RSS 4GB when your heap is 2GB? A complete taxonomy of memory metrics from system level (total, available, cached) to process level (RSS, PSS, USS, WSS) to allocator internals.Catching Structural Memory Leaks: A Temporal-Slab Case Study
From theory to practice: integrating drainability profiling into temporal-slab. See validation results (DSR = 1.0 - p), diagnostic mode pinpointing slab_lib.c:1829, and step-by-step integration guide for your allocator.
Structural Memory Leaks: Binary Outcomes in Coarse-Grained Reclamation
Memory grows unbounded. Valgrind shows zero leaks. Research proves coarse-grained allocators have a binary asymptotic outcome: satisfy drainability for O(1) retention, violate it for Ω(t) growth. No middle ground.
The Price of Everything Being an Object in Python
All Python developers know that everything in Python is an object. But at what cost? A deep dive into Python’s heap-only memory model and the 28-byte overhead of storing a simple integer.
You Don't Know JSON: Part 3 - Binary JSON in Databases
Database-managed binary JSON formats solve storage and query performance problems. JSONB enables fast PostgreSQL queries with indexing, while BSON adds extended types for MongoDB. Learn when databases beat text JSON.
You Don't Know JSON: Part 4 - Binary JSON for APIs and Data Transfer
Beyond database storage, binary JSON formats optimize API data transfer. MessagePack provides universal serialization with 30-40% size reduction. CBOR adds IETF standardization for IoT and security. Learn when binary beats JSON for network efficiency.