Mimalloc, a high-performance memory allocator developed by Microsoft, aims to optimize memory allocation performance across various applications. Recent activity shows that Daan has been the sole active contributor, focusing on testing and memory management improvements, which raises concerns about development continuity if his availability changes.
Recent issues and pull requests indicate ongoing efforts to address performance regressions and compatibility challenges across platforms like Windows and macOS. Notable issues include #921, highlighting performance differences between Windows and Linux, and #919, reporting crashes on Windows 11. These suggest a need for more comprehensive testing across environments.
| Timespan | Opened | Closed | Comments | Labeled | Milestones |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Days | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 Days | 8 | 4 | 37 | 8 | 1 |
| 90 Days | 19 | 17 | 51 | 19 | 1 |
| 1 Year | 84 | 48 | 185 | 84 | 1 |
| All Time | 599 | 327 | - | - | - |
Like all software activity quantification, these numbers are imperfect but sometimes useful. Comments, Labels, and Milestones refer to those issues opened in the timespan in question.
| Developer | Avatar | Branches | PRs | Commits | Files | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daan |  |
2 | 0/0/0 | 18 | 18 | 552 |
| Michael Neumann (mneumann) | 0 | 1/0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ikko Eltociear Ashimine (eltociear) | 0 | 1/0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nitan Alexandru Marcel (nitanmarcel) | 0 | 1/0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
PRs: created by that dev and opened/merged/closed-unmerged during the period
The Microsoft Mimalloc project has seen a steady stream of activity, with 272 open issues currently reported. Recent discussions highlight ongoing concerns about performance regressions, particularly in memory allocation and deallocation scenarios, as well as compatibility issues across various platforms and compilers.
Notably, there are several issues related to crashes on specific operating systems (e.g., Windows 11 and macOS Ventura) and peculiar behaviors when integrating with other libraries or frameworks (e.g., Wwise, Nvidia Nsight). The community is actively engaged in troubleshooting these problems, indicating a vibrant user base that relies on Mimalloc for memory management.
Common themes among the issues include:
Issue #927: Output logs to logcat on android
Issue #925: First class heap allocations from different threads
Issue #924: minject compatibility with mimalloc.dll
Issue #923: control over non-api symbol declarations
Issue #922: How can mimalloc manage a piece of allocated memory?
Issue #921: Performance differences between Windows and Linux
Issue #920: Memory leak in mi_thread_data_zalloc
Issue #919: Crash on application startup on Windows 11
Issue #918: Memory fragmentation in long-running processes
Issue #917: Inconsistent output naming of mimalloc.dll
This analysis reflects the current state of the Microsoft Mimalloc project based on recent GitHub issue activity, highlighting both user engagement and areas requiring attention from the development team.
The dataset contains a total of 29 open pull requests (PRs) for the Microsoft Mimalloc project, highlighting ongoing development and improvements in various areas such as documentation, platform support, and bug fixes. The PRs reflect a diverse range of contributions from multiple authors, indicating an active and engaged community.
PR #928: feat: Add support for logging to Android logcat
Created 1 day ago, this PR introduces logging capabilities for Mimalloc on Android, which is crucial for debugging memory allocation issues in Android applications.
PR #926: docs: update readme.md
Created 2 days ago, this minor documentation update corrects a typo from "speficic" to "specific," enhancing clarity.
PR #918: Fix build on FreeBSD-derivate DragonFly
Created 30 days ago, this PR addresses build issues specific to DragonFly BSD, ensuring broader compatibility across Unix-like systems.
PR #917: Add a missing #include
Created 34 days ago, this PR resolves a warning related to the implicit declaration of the getenv function by including the necessary header file.
PR #915: Fix mi_cfree function missing certain big allocations
Created 40 days ago, this PR aims to enhance the mi_cfree function's ability to handle large memory allocations correctly.
PR #911: fix typos
Created 67 days ago, this PR addresses various typographical errors throughout the codebase, improving overall readability.
PR #909: Change macOS mmap tag to fix conflict with IOAccelerator
Created 75 days ago, this PR modifies the mmap tag used on macOS to avoid conflicts with Apple's GPU driver stack.
PR #905: Build on cygwin
Created 87 days ago, this PR adds support for building Mimalloc on Cygwin, expanding its usability across different environments.
PR #812: Preliminary fixes and improvements to the wasm backend
Created 363 days ago, this PR makes several enhancements to the WebAssembly backend of Mimalloc, addressing compilation issues and improving functionality.
PR #687: adding check for ptr cookie to be the same as segment cookie to catch…
Created 576 days ago, this PR introduces checks to ensure pointer integrity during memory operations.
PR #637: unconditionally define decl exports for GNU-style visibility
Created 662 days ago, this PR simplifies symbol visibility definitions in the codebase.
PR #611: add stdatomic.h for gcc-4.8.5
Created 745 days ago, this PR adds support for older GCC versions by providing a custom atomic header file.
PR #594: __builtin_memcpy/set_inline from clang usage introduction.
Created 798 days ago, this PR introduces built-in functions for optimized memory operations in Clang.
PR #583: Add ability to not override new/delete for C++
Created 830 days ago, this PR allows users to choose whether or not to override C++ new/delete operators.
PR #572: Support -fno-exceptions when building with C++ support
Created 873 days ago, this PR enhances compatibility with C++ projects that disable exceptions.
PR #569: new utility to name a region
Created 876 days ago, this PR introduces a utility function for naming memory regions within Mimalloc.
PR #531: detect large page size on freebsd.
Created 947 days ago, this PR implements detection of large page sizes on FreeBSD systems.
PR #529: histogram: add pow2 allocation stats via MIMALLOC_SHOW_HISTOGRAM=1
Created 949 days ago, this experimental feature adds allocation statistics based on power-of-two granularity.
PR #519: follow-up reallocarr(ay) BSD implementations,
Created 960 days ago, this PR implements OpenBSD's malloc_conceal API for improved memory security.
PR #494: linux, checking THP current system settings.
Created 986 days ago, this PR checks current Transparent Huge Page settings on Linux systems.
PR #430: Add an option to reduce pagefault when available
Created 1151 days ago, this performance enhancement introduces a new option to reduce page faults during memory allocation.
PR #425: Check the default huge page size for Linux
Created 1154 days ago, this PR reads system settings to determine available huge page sizes on Linux systems.
PR #424: Use much faster getcpu() via vDSO
Created 1156 days ago, this optimization improves NUMA node information retrieval by using vDSO for faster access.
PR #419: Detect L1 cache size at compile time
Created 1161 days ago, this enhancement detects cache line sizes at compile time for better performance tuning.
PR #397: Initial heap local deferred free implementation
Created 1214 days ago, this initial implementation aims at optimizing deferred freeing of heap-local memory allocations.
PR #394: Implement appropriate atomic_yield for Armv7+
Created 1219 days ago, this implementation optimizes spin-wait behavior on Arm architectures.
PR #392: Introduce constant function for further compiler optimizations
Created 1221 days ago, this change introduces constant functions to aid compiler optimizations in memory management functions.
PR #195: Add vcpkg installation instructions
Created 1679 days ago, this documentation update provides installation instructions via vcpkg for easier integration into projects.
PR #105: Explicitly mention code owners
Created 1865 days ago, this administrative change establishes code ownership within the repository.
The pull requests submitted to the Microsoft Mimalloc repository reflect a vibrant development environment characterized by active contributions from various developers addressing multiple aspects of the allocator's functionality and usability across platforms.
A significant number of recent pull requests focus on improving platform compatibility and enhancing documentation—an indication that contributors are keen on making Mimalloc more accessible and easier to integrate into diverse environments such as Android (e.g., PRs like #928) and Cygwin (#905). This trend is essential as it aligns with modern software development practices where cross-platform functionality is paramount in attracting users and contributors alike.
Moreover, there is an evident emphasis on bug fixes and performance enhancements (e.g., PRs like #915 and #430). These changes are crucial as they help maintain the allocator's reputation as a high-performance alternative to traditional memory allocators like malloc. The focus on optimizing specific functionalities—such as reducing page faults (#430) or improving logging capabilities (#928)—demonstrates an ongoing commitment to refining performance metrics that are critical in high-load scenarios typical of modern applications.
While many pull requests are actively being addressed or merged quickly (like documentation updates), some older pull requests remain open without significant activity or resolution (e.g., PRs like #687 and #637). This could indicate potential bottlenecks in review processes or differing priorities among contributors regarding which features or fixes are most critical at any given time.
Additionally, there are instances where discussions around specific pull requests reveal differing opinions among contributors about implementation strategies (e.g., discussions in PRs like #915 and comments regarding performance trade-offs). Such debates can enrich the development process but may also slow down decision-making if consensus is not reached promptly.
Despite the influx of new pull requests and ongoing discussions around them, there appears to be a lack of recent merge activity for some older contributions—especially those related to significant architectural changes or optimizations (like those seen in earlier pull requests). This could suggest that while contributors are eager to propose enhancements or fixes, there may be hesitance or caution among maintainers regarding merging potentially disruptive changes without thorough testing or validation against existing functionalities.
Overall, the current state of pull requests in the Microsoft Mimalloc repository highlights an active community dedicated to enhancing both functionality and usability across platforms while maintaining high-performance standards in memory allocation practices. However, attention should be given to managing open pull requests effectively and ensuring timely reviews to sustain momentum in development efforts while fostering collaboration among contributors.
Summary
Quantified Reports
Detailed Reportsuse_guarded signature and multi-threaded free operations.alloc.c, segment.c, and related headers.dev-guarded and dev-slice.Nitanmarcel
Eltociear
Mneumann
Dominance of Daan: Daan is the only active contributor in recent weeks, indicating a potential bottleneck in development if he becomes unavailable. His focus on testing improvements suggests a priority on ensuring code reliability before further feature development.
Branch Management: The frequent merging of branches indicates an ongoing effort to consolidate features and maintain a clean main branch. This is crucial for collaborative development, especially in a project with multiple active branches.
Testing Focus: The emphasis on increasing test iterations and timeouts reflects a commitment to robustness in the allocator's performance, which aligns with the project's goals of high efficiency and reliability.
Lack of Collaboration: Other team members have not contributed recently, which may hinder diverse input into the project. Their open pull requests suggest they are engaged but not actively contributing code at this time.
In summary, while Daan's contributions are substantial and focused on critical areas of the project, the inactivity of other team members raises concerns about collaborative efforts and knowledge sharing within the team.