[webkit-dev] Discussing bug 98539 - Refactor resource loading to allow for out-of-process loading and memory caching

[Brady Eidson]

On Oct 8, 2012, at 10:58 AM, Adam Barth <abarth at webkit.org> wrote:

> When we looked at whether we should add a shared memory cache to
> Chromium, we came to the conclusion that there wasn't much benefit to
> having a shared memory cache.  In
> <https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=98541#c4>, you mentioned that
> you have data showing that a shared memory cache is a win.  Would you
> be willing to share this data with the WebKit community?

It's possible the disparity is because of the process model Chromium was focusing on versus the process models we are exploring.

WebKit 2 is also evolving as an API framework that supports other non-browser clients which might have different caching needs than Chromium has focused on.

We don't have hard data to share at this time.  A simple experiment one could run to see the type of result we're focusing on would be to open a handful of articles from various top-tier news sites in different tabs and note just how many resources are shared between them.

Thanks,
~Brady

> 
> Adam
> 
> 
> On Mon, Oct 8, 2012 at 10:39 AM, Brady Eidson <beidson at apple.com> wrote:
>> A bit of background:
>> 
>> A few of us have been working on enhancing WebKit2's support for multiple WebProcesses.  As part of this effort I'm working on https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=98537 - "Add a NetworkProcess to WebKit2"
>> 
>> One benefit of the NetworkProcess will be to have a single shared process doing network i/o on behalf of all attached WebProcesses.
>> 
>> Another benefit we've identified is the ability to have that process also act as custodian for a shared memory cache amongst the attached WebProcesses.
>> 
>> While this effort is primarily about WebKit 2, making it possible will obviously involve some changes to the WebCore memory cache and resource loading.
>> 
>> I don't plan to shoehorn in changes, but rather to make sensical refactoring that cleans up the code for all ports.  Anyone familiar with the CachedResource and ResourceLoader mechanisms probably know they're not really up to the clarity and quality standards we strive for, and I'm excited about being able to focus on them for awhile and make them better for everyone.
>> 
>> I have a few patches lined up locally to do this and have attached the first of these to https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=98539
>> 
>> Feel free to share concerns here or in the collection of bugzillas that will slowly be growing as I make progress.
>> 
>> ~Brady
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