My (very) fast zero-allocation webserver using OxCaml
2 days ago
- #Webserver
- #Performance
- #OxCaml
- OxCaml offers language extensions for high-performance systems programming while retaining OCaml's functional style.
- httpz is a zero-allocation HTTP/1.1 parser leveraging OxCaml's unboxed types and local allocations for efficiency.
- Unboxed types in OxCaml, such as int16#, allow values to be passed in registers, avoiding heap allocations.
- OxCaml supports unboxed records and tuples, enabling functions to return multiple values without allocation.
- Local allocations and exclaves in OxCaml facilitate stack allocation, reducing garbage collector activity.
- OxCaml introduces mutable local variables, eliminating the need for heap-allocated ref values in loops.
- Performance benchmarks show httpz (OxCaml) outperforming traditional parsers in speed and heap usage.
- OxCaml's features are being integrated into real-world applications, like a high-performance webserver.
- Future work includes leveraging OxCaml's FFI for zero-copy kernel interactions and improving tooling.