Memory Padding: Understanding Data Alignment in Programming

Memory Padding Introduction In modern programming, memory management plays a crucial role in optimizing performance. One often overlooked concept in this area is memory padding—a technique used by compilers to ensure data alignment in memory, enhancing the CPU’s ability to access data efficiently. Let’s dive into what memory padding is, why it’s needed, and how it impacts the performance of your applications. What is Memory Padding? Memory padding is the process of adding extra bytes between data fields in memory to ensure they are properly aligned. This padding helps the CPU access data more efficiently, as modern processors are designed to access memory in specific chunks (e.g., 4 or 8 bytes) instead of individual bytes. If data is misaligned—meaning it doesn’t start at a memory address divisible by the processor’s word size—this can result in slower access and additional CPU cycles to retrieve the data. ...

October 22, 2024

Understanding Memory Usage of Numbers and Strings in MongoDB

TIL: Understanding Memory Usage of Numbers and Strings in MongoDB In MongoDB, the memory size of data types like Number and String varies depending on the specific type and content. Here’s a simplified breakdown: Number Data Types: Double (64-bit floating-point): 8 bytes. 32-bit Integer (int): 4 bytes. 64-bit Integer (long): 8 bytes. Decimal128 (high-precision): 16 bytes. String Data Type: Memory Size: Depends on the length of the string in UTF-8 encoding. Formula: (Number of UTF-8 characters) + 1 byte for a null terminator + 4 bytes for overhead. For example, the string “hello” would require 10 bytes in total. ...

September 24, 2024