[ruby-core:86962] [Ruby trunk Feature#14718] Use jemalloc by default?

[dennisb55@hotmail.com]

Issue #14718 has been updated by bluz71 (Dennis B).


> * What will be changed by using jemalloc by default?  I understood that jemalloc is great at the present time, but we are already able to use it with `configure --with-jemalloc`.

jemalloc clearly has superior memory fragmentation characteristics compared with glibc malloc on Linux, this characteristic greatly benefits long-lived processes which is the a type of workload Ruby is often used for.

Not speaking for Mike, but I assume he is asking why not make it the default now/soon? Some in the Ruby community have been using jemalloc for years with great benefit and no issues. They'd like to see it widely deployed for all Ruby users to gain this benefit not just the select few who know how to enable the obscure option. 

> * How do we implement it?  On an environment where jemalloc is unavailable, what will happen?

I would suggest shipping a minimal jemalloc sourc with Ruby. It is quite likely that the jemalloc crew (Jeremey and David) would help in regards to what source and version to use and ship.

Note, Golang uses and ships with their own tcmalloc derived allocator (see: https://golang.org/src/runtime/malloc.go).

Likewise, the Rust Language uses jemalloc (see: https://twitter.com/rustlang/status/740299354888536064).

Some programming languages do ship with the own allocator source. If Ruby did the same with jemalloc it would not be out of the ordinary. Personally I would want to enable it by default for all Unix-like system (not just Linux).

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Feature #14718: Use jemalloc by default?
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/14718#change-71927

* Author: mperham (Mike Perham)
* Status: Open
* Priority: Normal
* Assignee: 
* Target version: 
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I know Sam opened #9113 4 years ago to suggest this but I'm revisiting the topic to see if there's any movement here for Ruby 2.6 or 2.7.  I supply a major piece of Ruby infrastructure (Sidekiq) and I keep hearing over and over how Ruby is terrible with memory, a huge memory hog with their Rails apps.  My users switch to jemalloc and a miracle occurs: their memory usage drops massively.  Some data points:

https://twitter.com/brandonhilkert/status/987400365627801601
https://twitter.com/d_jones/status/989866391787335680
https://github.com/mperham/sidekiq/issues/3824#issuecomment-383072469

Redis moved to jemalloc many years ago and it solved all of their memory issues too.  Their conclusion: the glibc allocator "sucks really really hard". http://oldblog.antirez.com/post/everything-about-redis-24.html

This is a real pain point for the entire Rails community and would improve Ruby's reputation immensely if we can solve this problem.



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