Description

There is an expensive copy operation for data buffer when loading and parsing JS Bundle in React Native. In my case, I have a 4.8 MB JS bundle. Xcode instrument profiler shows it takes up 15.81 MB trying to copy a NSData object in ensureNullTerminated function in NSDataBigString class.

This is the brief process for RCTBridge loading JS bundle

In Objc, NSData is a static byte buffer that bridges to Data, which is a byte buffer in a contiguous region of memory. Here, NSDataBigString class holds NSData object constructed from JS bundle.

Inside react-native framework, it has to treat this data buffer in a contiguous region of memory as a null-terminated byte string (NTBS).&text=For%20example%2C%20the%20character%20array,%22cat%22%20in%20ASCII%20encoding.) .

A null-terminated byte string (NTBS) is a sequence of nonzero bytes followed by a byte with value zero (the terminating null character). Each byte in a byte string encodes one character of some character set. For example, the character array {‘\x63’,’\x61’,’\x74’,’\0’} is an NTBS holding the string “cat” in ASCII encoding.

While, this data buffer doesn’t end with \0 character. Besides, In Objective-C, NSData is an immutable object. In order to add the Null byte, \0 character, firstly, it has to copy the original immutable NSData object and construct a mutable object; then append \0 to the data buffer.

React Native version:

Run react-native info in your terminal and copy the results here.
react-native: v0.63.3
device: iPhone 5s
OS version: 12.4.8

Steps To Reproduce

Provide a detailed list of steps that reproduce the issue.

1. open RNTester in react-native repo. react-native/packages/rn-tester
2. find ensureNullTerminated and set a breakpoint there
3. run the RNTester

Snack, code example, screenshot, or link to a repository:

Solution

• Add \0 character ahead of time when building JS bundle. By doing this, you can avoid this copy operation during bundle loading in App launching phase.

Ref

• https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/30145