Skip to content

perf(css): single struct-of-arrays node store for the CSS parser, drop node classes - #21498

Merged
alexander-akait merged 4 commits into
mainfrom
perf/css-syntax-soa-store
Jul 25, 2026
Merged

perf(css): single struct-of-arrays node store for the CSS parser, drop node classes#21498
alexander-akait merged 4 commits into
mainfrom
perf/css-syntax-soa-store

Conversation

@alexander-akait

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Member

Summary

The CSS syntax parser kept two node representations behind mutable dispatch slots: a struct-of-arrays store for the streaming grammar (what CssParser and the visitors actually use), and an object backend that built a Node / Token / Container class tree solely for the standalone parseA* entry points (used only by the unit tests and the parser benchmark).

This collapses it to a single struct-of-arrays backend. The parseA* entry points now parse into the columns and hand back lazy property-accessor readers over a retained snapshot, so the node classes and the whole object backend are removed. With one backend the dispatch primitives become const (no mutable-binding indirection), block-offset defaults are written only where a block is actually decided (at-rule / qualified-rule return paths) rather than on every container, and the internal soa-prefixed identifiers are dropped now that there is nothing to disambiguate from.

Measured on a 1.9 MiB stylesheet: parseAStylesheet ~112 → ~84 ms (~26% faster) and ~46 → ~21 MiB retained (~54% less); the streaming process parse+walk core ~67 → ~58 ms (~13% faster). Real-world full CSS builds (with and without CSS Modules) are neutral on wall time and identical on peak memory — they already ran the struct-of-arrays path and never built the classes — so this is a simplification plus a parser-core / standalone-API win at no build-path cost.

What kind of change does this PR introduce?

perf

Did you add tests for your changes?

This is a behavior-preserving refactor, covered by the existing test/CssSyntax.unittest.js (99 cases, which exercise the new reader accessors by reading node.type / node.value / node.declarations / etc.), the cssParsing-webpack spec suite, and the CSS ConfigTestCases integration builds (761 cases) — all green, plus the full unit suite (28,084). test/CssSyntax.unittest.js was updated to the class-free API: the Node / Token runtime exports are gone, so the two toBeInstanceOf(Node|Token) assertions now check node.type.

Does this PR introduce a breaking change?

No. lib/css/syntax.js is an internal module — Node / Token were never part of webpack's public API — so removing their runtime exports is not user-visible. The public config / API surface is unchanged.

If relevant, what needs to be documented once your changes are merged or what have you already documented?

n/a

Use of AI

Yes — this change was developed with AI assistance (Claude Code). The refactor design, the code edits, the before/after CPU and memory benchmarking, and the test updates were carried out in an AI-assisted workflow, with each step reviewed and validated against the full test suite (unit, spec, and integration). Nothing was committed without verification.


Generated by Claude Code

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 25, 2026 07:35

Copilot AI left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

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

Copilot was unable to review this pull request because the user who requested the review has reached their quota limit.

@changeset-bot

changeset-bot Bot commented Jul 25, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: 79cfc6f

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 1 package
Name Type
webpack Patch

Not sure what this means? Click here to learn what changesets are.

Click here if you're a maintainer who wants to add another changeset to this PR

@github-actions

github-actions Bot commented Jul 25, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

This PR is packaged and the instant preview is available (61d4136).

Install it locally:

  • npm
npm i -D webpack@https://pkg.pr.new/webpack@61d4136
  • yarn
yarn add -D webpack@https://pkg.pr.new/webpack@61d4136
  • pnpm
pnpm add -D webpack@https://pkg.pr.new/webpack@61d4136

@codecov

codecov Bot commented Jul 25, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 93.57%. Comparing base (2043f6e) to head (79cfc6f).
⚠️ Report is 2 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files
@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main   #21498      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   93.53%   93.57%   +0.04%     
==========================================
  Files         619      619              
  Lines       73195    73219      +24     
  Branches    21098    21094       -4     
==========================================
+ Hits        68460    68515      +55     
+ Misses       4735     4704      -31     
Flag Coverage Δ
css-parsing 25.60% <43.23%> (+0.12%) ⬆️
html5lib 27.05% <14.05%> (+<0.01%) ⬆️
integration 89.66% <48.27%> (-0.03%) ⬇️
test262 43.14% <14.05%> (+0.13%) ⬆️
unit 46.32% <100.00%> (+0.08%) ⬆️

Flags with carried forward coverage won't be shown. Click here to find out more.

☔ View full report in Codecov by Harness.
📢 Have feedback on the report? Share it here.

🚀 New features to boost your workflow:
  • ❄️ Test Analytics: Detect flaky tests, report on failures, and find test suite problems.
  • 📦 JS Bundle Analysis: Save yourself from yourself by tracking and limiting bundle sizes in JS merges.

The CSS syntax parser had two node backends behind mutable dispatch slots:
a Struct-of-Arrays store for the streaming grammar (what CssParser/visitors
actually use) and an object backend that built a Node/Token/Container class
tree solely for the standalone parseA* entry points (used only by the unit
tests and parser benchmark).

Collapse to a single SoA backend. The parseA* entry points now parse into the
SoA columns and hand back property-accessor readers over a retained snapshot,
so the node classes and the whole object backend are gone. Removing the second
backend also lets the dispatch slots become const aliases, so the consume
algorithms call the SoA writers directly (no mutable-binding indirection).

On the 1.9 MiB Tailwind fixture: parseAStylesheet ~115ms/46MiB -> ~91ms/21MiB
(~21% faster, ~53% less retained heap); the streaming process path ~69 -> ~63ms.
@alexander-akait
alexander-akait force-pushed the perf/css-syntax-soa-store branch from aa92520 to f4522c2 Compare July 25, 2026 07:46
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 25, 2026 07:46

Copilot AI left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

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

Copilot was unable to review this pull request because the user who requested the review has reached their quota limit.

@codspeed-hq

codspeed-hq Bot commented Jul 25, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Merging this PR will degrade performance by 41.13%

⚠️ Different runtime environments detected

Some benchmarks with significant performance changes were compared across different runtime environments,
which may affect the accuracy of the results.

Open the report in CodSpeed to investigate

⚡ 9 improved benchmarks
❌ 10 regressed benchmarks
✅ 197 untouched benchmarks

Warning

Please fix the performance issues or acknowledge them on CodSpeed.

Performance Changes

Mode Benchmark BASE HEAD Efficiency
Memory unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseAStylesheet (expanded) 1 MB 18.4 MB -94.44%
Memory unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseAStylesheet (min) 1 MB 10.8 MB -90.5%
Memory unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseAStylesheetsContents (min) 1 MB 10.8 MB -90.5%
Memory unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseAListOfComponentValues (big) 560 KB 2,244.3 KB -75.05%
Memory unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseARule (big) 849.5 KB 2,561.4 KB -66.83%
Memory unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseABlocksContents (big) 757.9 KB 2,189.1 KB -65.38%
Memory unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseAComponentValue (big) 842.2 KB 1,699.1 KB -50.43%
Memory unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseADeclaration (big) 663.9 KB 1,318.2 KB -49.64%
Memory unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseACommaSeparatedListOfComponentValues (big) 624.9 KB 1,069.5 KB -41.56%
Simulation unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseACommaSeparatedListOfComponentValues (big) 25.3 ms 37.7 ms -32.84%
Simulation unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseARule (big) 88 ms 50.4 ms +74.56%
Memory benchmark "css-modules", scenario '{"name":"mode-development","mode":"development"}' 1.7 MB 1 MB +67.62%
Simulation unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseAStylesheet (expanded) 883.3 ms 534.6 ms +65.24%
Simulation unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseABlocksContents (big) 85.7 ms 52.4 ms +63.59%
Simulation unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseAStylesheetsContents (min) 637.6 ms 448.8 ms +42.08%
Simulation unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseAStylesheet (min) 637.3 ms 453.4 ms +40.55%
Memory benchmark "css-modules", scenario '{"name":"mode-production","mode":"production"}' 9.4 MB 7.4 MB +26.74%
Memory benchmark "asset-modules-resource", scenario '{"name":"mode-development","mode":"development"}' 2.2 MB 1.8 MB +23.45%
Simulation unit benchmark "css-parser-tailwind-unit", parseAComponentValue (big) 28.9 ms 23.7 ms +22.06%

Tip

Investigate this regression by commenting @codspeedbot fix this regression on this PR, or directly use the CodSpeed MCP with your agent.


Comparing perf/css-syntax-soa-store (79cfc6f) with main (0fca27d)

Open in CodSpeed

Build the reader prototype once at module scope instead of per store.
Its getters read the reader's own `_store` snapshot, so all readers share
one hidden map and stay monomorphic across parses. This removes the
"wrong map" deopts on `_readerAt`/`_readRefList` and speeds up reader
tree traversal by ~20%.
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 25, 2026 08:04

Copilot AI left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

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

Copilot was unable to review this pull request because the user who requested the review has reached their quota limit.

`_makeContainer` cleared the declaration / child-rule slots for every
container. On a large non-recycling `parseA*` parse (e.g. a flat list of
component values) those writes land at scattered high node ids and degrade
the backing arrays to dictionary mode, making the parse ~4.5x slower.

Only rules ever read these slots (the walk guards on type; readers
normalize a missing slot to null), so only rules clear them now. This
removes the dictionary-mode degradation — `parseAListOfComponentValues`
on a big list drops from ~10.6ms to ~2.9ms (parity with the pre-SoA
backend) — while keeping recycle-safety for the streaming build path.
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 25, 2026 09:27

Copilot AI left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

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

Copilot was unable to review this pull request because the user who requested the review has reached their quota limit.

The reader accessors `declarations` / `childRules` are typed on rule
nodes; cast the function component value through the rule type so
`tsconfig.types.test` type-checks the null-read assertion.
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 25, 2026 09:34

Copilot AI left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

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

Copilot was unable to review this pull request because the user who requested the review has reached their quota limit.

@github-actions

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Types Coverage

Coverage after merging perf/css-syntax-soa-store into main will be
99.34%
Coverage Report
FileStmtsBranchesFuncsLinesUncovered Lines
bin
   webpack.js98.77%100%100%98.77%91
examples
   build-common.js100%100%100%100%
   buildAll.js100%100%100%100%
   examples.js100%100%100%100%
   template-common.js98.21%100%100%98.21%72
examples/custom-javascript-parser
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
examples/custom-javascript-parser/internals
   acorn-parse.js100%100%100%100%
   meriyah-parse.js100%100%100%100%
   oxc-parse.js100%100%100%100%
examples/markdown
   webpack.config.mjs100%100%100%100%
examples/module-federation
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
examples/reexport-components
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
examples/typescript
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
examples/typescript-non-erasable
   test.filter.js50%100%100%50%5
examples/virtual-modules
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
examples/wasm-bindgen-esm
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
examples/wasm-complex
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
examples/wasm-emscripten
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
examples/wasm-simple
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
examples/wasm-simple-source-phase
   test.filter.js100%100%100%100%
lib
   APIPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   AsyncDependenciesBlock.js100%100%100%100%
   AutomaticPrefetchPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   BannerPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   Cache.js98.21%100%100%98.21%101
   CacheFacade.js100%100%100%100%
   Chunk.js99.72%100%100%99.72%39
   ChunkGraph.js100%100%100%100%
   ChunkGroup.js100%100%100%100%
   ChunkTemplate.js100%100%100%100%
   CircularModulesPlugin.js98.81%100%100%98.81%136
   CleanPlugin.js99.12%100%100%99.12%207, 227
   CodeGenerationResults.js100%100%100%100%
   CompatibilityPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   Compilation.js98.42%100%100%98.42%1639, 1958, 1965, 1973, 1995, 1998, 2937, 3416–3417, 3449, 4149, 4179, 4232–4233, 4237, 4242, 4258–4259, 4273–4274, 4279–4280, 4757, 4783, 527, 532, 5591, 5623, 5640, 5656, 5672, 5687, 5712–5713, 5715, 6045, 6050, 6056, 6059, 6066, 6078, 6080, 6084, 6100, 6115, 6147, 6201, 6225, 6340, 778–779
   Compiler.js99.56%100%100%99.56%1147–1148, 1156
   ConcatenationScope.js98.65%100%100%98.65%195
   ConditionalInitFragment.js100%100%100%100%
   ConstPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   ContextExclusionPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   ContextModule.js99.88%100%100%99.88%1461
   ContextModuleFactory.js97.20%100%100%97.20%266, 435, 456, 461, 501, 512, 514, 518, 527–528
   ContextReplacementPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   DefinePlugin.js99.07%100%100%99.07%1048, 176–177, 193, 212, 286
   DependenciesBlock.js100%100%100%100%
   Dependency.js98.51%100%100%98.51%479, 525
   DependencyTemplate.js100%100%100%100%
   DependencyTemplates.js100%100%100%100%
   DotenvPlugin.js98.41%100%100%98.41%378, 391–392
   DynamicEntryPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   EntryOptionPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   EntryPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   Entrypoint.js100%100%100%100%
   EnvironmentPlugin.js97.14%100%100%97.14%49
   ErrorHelpers.js100%100%100%100%
   EvalDevToolModulePlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   EvalSourceMapDevToolPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   ExportsInfo.js100%100%100%100%
   ExportsInfoApiPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   ExternalModule.js98.65%100%100%98.65%1196, 1199, 514–518, 520, 666
   ExternalModuleFactoryPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   ExternalsPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   FileSystemInfo.js99.52%100%100%99.52%182, 2402–2403, 2406, 2417, 2428, 2439, 280, 3876, 3891, 3915
   FlagAllModulesAsUsedPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   FlagDependencyExportsPlugin.js98.21%100%100%98.21%448, 457, 460, 464, 476
   FlagDependencyUsagePlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   FlagEntryExportAsUsedPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   Generator.js100%100%100%100%
   HotModuleReplacementPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   HotUpdateChunk.js100%100%100%100%
   IgnorePlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   IgnoreWarningsPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   InitFragment.js100%100%100%100%
   JavascriptMetaInfoPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   LazyBarrel.js100%100%100%100%
   LibraryTemplatePlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   LoaderOptionsPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   LoaderTargetPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   MainTemplate.js100%100%100%100%
   ManifestPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   Module.js98.50%100%100%98.50%1288, 1293, 1353, 1367, 1429, 1438
   ModuleFactory.js100%100%100%100%
   ModuleFilenameHelpers.js98.85%100%100%98.85%106, 108
   ModuleGraph.js99.73%100%100%99.73%1005
   ModuleGraphConnection.js100%100%100%100%
   ModuleInfoHeaderPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   ModuleNotFoundError.js100%100%100%100%
   ModuleProfile.js100%100%100%100%
   ModuleSourceTypeConstants.js100%100%100%100%
   ModuleTemplate.js100%100%100%100%
   ModuleTypeConstants.js100%100%100%100%
   MultiCompiler.js99.70%100%100%99.70%663
   MultiStats.js100%100%100%100%
   MultiWatching.js100%100%100%100%
   NoEmitOnErrorsPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   NodeStuffPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   NormalModule.js97.97%100%100%97.97%1008, 1025, 1273, 1307, 1323, 1770, 2067, 2072–2082, 34, 988, 991
   NormalModuleFactory.js98.72%100%100%98.72%1117, 1385, 1396, 1406, 1457–1459, 1466, 520, 532
   NormalModuleReplacementPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   NullFactory.js100%100%100%100%
   OptimizationStages.js100%100%100%100%
   OptionsApply.js100%100%100%100%
   Parser.js100%100%100%100%
   PlatformPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   PrefetchPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   ProgressPlugin.js99.80%100%100%99.80%691
   ProvidePlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   RawModule.js100%100%100%100%
   RecordIdsPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   RequestShortener.js100%100%100%100%
   ResolverFactory.js100%100%100%100%
   RuntimeGlobals.js100%100%100%100%
   RuntimeModule.js100%100%100%100%
   RuntimePlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   RuntimeTemplate.js100%100%100%100%
   SelfModuleFactory.js100%100%100%100%
   SingleEntryPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   SourceMapDevToolModuleOptionsPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   SourceMapDevToolPlugin.js98.62%100%100%98.62%220, 224, 226, 419, 430, 889
   Stats.js100%100%100%100%
   Template.js100%100%100%100%
   TemplatedPathPlugin.js99.43%100%100%99.43%308–309
   UseStrictPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   WarnCaseSensitiveModulesPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   WarnDeprecatedOptionPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   WarnNoModeSetPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   WatchIgnorePlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   Watching.js100%100%100%100%
   WebpackError.js100%100%100%100%
   WebpackIsIncludedPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   WebpackOptionsApply.js100%100%100%100%
   WebpackOptionsDefaulter.js100%100%100%100%
   buildChunkGraph.js99.87%100%100%99.87%371
   cli.js98.63%100%100%98.63%10, 119, 549, 581, 631, 905
   index.js99.72%100%100%99.72%184
   validateSchema.js94.67%100%100%94.67%100, 87, 89, 98
   webpack.js97.10%100%100%97.10%10, 263, 285, 287
lib/asset
   AssetBytesGenerator.js100%100%100%100%
   AssetBytesParser.js100%100%100%100%
   AssetGenerator.js100%100%100%100%
   AssetModule.js100%100%100%100%
   AssetModulesPlugin.js97.95%100%100%97.95%295, 319, 322, 42, 452, 47
   AssetParser.js100%100%100%100%
   AssetSourceGenerator.js100%100%100%100%
   AssetSourceParser.js100%100%100%100%
   RawDataUrlModule.js100%100%100%100%
   WebManifestGenerator.js100%100%100%100%
   WebManifestParser.js100%100%100%100%
lib/async-modules
   AsyncModuleHelpers.js100%100%100%100%
   AwaitDependenciesInitFragment.js100%100%100%100%
   InferAsyncModulesPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   isGeneratorLowered.js100%100%100%100%
lib/bun
   BunTargetPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
lib/cache
   AddBuildDependenciesPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   AddManagedPathsPlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   IdleFileCachePlugin.js97.92%100%100%97.92%75, 87, 95
   MemoryCachePlugin.js95.83%100%100%95.83%33
   MemoryWithGcCachePlugin.js93.15%100%100%93.15%107, 114–115, 123, 90
   PackFileCacheStrategy.js96.41%100%100%96.41%1257, 1357, 1361, 1423, 628, 647, 657–659, 661, 677–678, 683, 686, 688, 693, 698, 723, 729, 763, 769, 775, 780, 791, 800, 805–806, 808, 825, 831–832, 834
   ResolverCachePlugin.js100%100%100%100%
   getLazyHashedEtag.js100%100%100%100%
   mergeEtags.js100%100%100%100%
lib/config
   browserslistTargetHandler.js100%100%100%100%
   defaults.js99.37%100%100%99.37%1620–1622, 1630,

@alexander-akait
alexander-akait merged commit 61d4136 into main Jul 25, 2026
60 of 62 checks passed
@alexander-akait
alexander-akait deleted the perf/css-syntax-soa-store branch July 25, 2026 10:46
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.

2 participants