wasm-overhead-research/docs/BINARY_SIZES.md

Binary Size Tracking

This document tracks the binary sizes of different WASM implementations and optimization levels.

Current Size Comparison

Implementation	Go (KB)	Go Opt (KB)	TinyGo (KB)	TinyGo Opt (KB)	Javy (KB)	Porffor (KB)	QuickJS (KB)	Best Reduction
basic	860	844	348	92	N/A	N/A	N/A	89.3%
goja	3,756	3,600	N/A*	N/A*	N/A	N/A	N/A	4.2%
javy	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	492**	N/A	N/A	42.8%
porffor	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	513***	N/A	40.3%
quickjs	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	286****	66.7%

Gzipped Size Comparison (Web Deployment)

Implementation	Original (KB)	Gzipped (KB)	Compression	Total Gzipped	Scaling Notes
TinyGo Opt	198	93	53.3%	93KB	Each operation adds ~93KB
Porffor	513	75	85.4%	75KB	Each operation adds ~75KB
QuickJS	718	285	60.3%	285KB	One-time runtime cost + minimal JS strings
Javy Total	492	488	0.8%	488KB	Additional operations add 4KB each (2KB gzipped)
Javy Plugin	488	486	0.4%	-	Shared runtime (one-time cost)
Javy Module	4	2	50%	-	Per-operation cost
Goja	15,818	3,716	76.5%	3,716KB	One-time runtime cost + minimal JS strings

Scaling Analysis for Multiple Operations (e.g., OpenAPI transformations)

For 1 operation:

• TinyGo: 93KB
• Porffor: 75KB ⭐ Smallest single operation
• QuickJS: 285KB
• Javy: 488KB
• Goja: 3,716KB

For 5 operations:

• TinyGo: 465KB (5 × 93KB)
• Porffor: 375KB (5 × 75KB)
• QuickJS: ~286KB (285KB + ~1KB JS strings) ⭐ Best for multiple operations
• Javy: 504KB (488KB + 4 × 4KB raw modules)
• Goja: ~3,717KB (3,716KB + ~1KB JS strings)

For 10 operations:

• TinyGo: 930KB (10 × 93KB)
• Porffor: 750KB (10 × 75KB)
• QuickJS: ~286KB (285KB + ~1KB JS strings) ⭐ Scales excellently
• Javy: 524KB (488KB + 9 × 4KB raw modules)
• Goja: ~3,718KB (3,716KB + ~1KB JS strings)

*Goja implementation doesn't compile with TinyGo due to dependency complexity **Javy total: 4KB module + 488KB plugin (compressed). Additional modules only add 4KB each. ***Porffor: AOT compiled JavaScript to WASM, single self-contained binary ****QuickJS: Rust + QuickJS JavaScript engine compiled to WASM with WASI target

Optimization Analysis

Basic Implementation

• Go Standard: 860KB baseline
• Go Optimized: 844KB (-16KB, -1.9% reduction)
  • Uses maximum optimization flags: -ldflags="-s -w -buildid=", -gcflags="-l=4 -B -C", -trimpath
  • Post-processed with wasm-opt -Oz for additional size reduction
• TinyGo Standard: 348KB (-512KB, -59.5% reduction vs Go)
• TinyGo Optimized: 92KB (-768KB, -89.3% reduction vs Go)
  • Uses maximum TinyGo optimization: -opt=z, -no-debug, -gc=leaking, -panic=trap
  • Post-processed with wasm-opt -Oz --enable-bulk-memory --enable-sign-ext --enable-mutable-globals

Goja Implementation (Updated!)

• Go Standard: 3,756KB baseline (JavaScript engine overhead)
• Go Optimized: 3,600KB (-156KB, -4.2% reduction)
  • Removed embedded JavaScript code (pure runtime approach)
  • Now accepts JavaScript code as parameter for maximum flexibility
  • Limited further optimization due to large Goja runtime dependencies
• TinyGo: Not compatible due to golang.org/x/text dependency complexity

Javy Implementation

• Dynamic Module: 4KB (compressed)
• Shared Plugin: 1.3MB raw (488KB compressed, shared across all Javy modules)
• Total for single app: 492KB (42.8% reduction vs Go basic, 46.5% smaller than TinyGo optimized)
• Advantage: Plugin is shared - additional Javy modules only add 4KB each
• Scaling benefit: Multiple modules share the 488KB plugin cost

Porffor Implementation

• AOT Compiled: 513KB (single self-contained binary)
• Moderate reduction: 40.3% smaller than Go basic (347KB savings)
• Ahead-of-time compilation: JavaScript compiled to WASM at build time
• Zero runtime overhead: No JavaScript engine or interpreter needed
• Advantage: Self-contained binary for JavaScript-based transformations
• Limitation: Limited JavaScript feature support, larger than expected due to runtime overhead

QuickJS Implementation (NEW!)

• Rust + QuickJS: 703KB raw (286KB compressed, single self-contained binary)
• Good reduction: 66.7% smaller than Go basic (574KB savings)
• Full JavaScript engine: Complete ECMAScript compatibility via QuickJS
• WASI target: Uses WebAssembly System Interface for C standard library support
• Advantage: Full JavaScript engine smaller than Goja, excellent JS compatibility
• Breakthrough: Successfully compiled C-based JavaScript engine to WASM using WASI
• Runtime: Requires WASI runtime (Node.js WASI or wasmtime)

Key Insights

1. TinyGo achieves the smallest overall binary at 92KB for Go-native code
2. TinyGo provides best Go-native optimization for Go code (92KB, 89.3% reduction)
3. Javy provides the smallest individual modules at 4KB per implementation
4. Javy's dynamic linking shines for multiple modules - shared 1.3MB plugin
5. Go optimization flags have modest impact on standard Go builds (~2% reduction)
6. Complex dependencies limit optimization effectiveness (Goja only 4.2% reduction)
7. wasm-opt is crucial for Go/TinyGo but corrupts Javy plugins and Porffor exception handling
8. AOT compilation beats runtime approaches for size optimization

Architecture Comparison

Go/TinyGo Approach

• Pros: Single self-contained binary, excellent tooling, mature ecosystem
• Cons: Larger binaries, limited by Go runtime overhead
• Best for: Single applications, Go-native logic

Javy Approach

• Pros: Tiny individual modules (4KB), shared runtime, JavaScript flexibility
• Cons: Requires WASI runtime, plugin dependency, newer ecosystem
• Best for: Multiple small modules, JavaScript-based transformations, microservices

Porffor Approach

• Pros: Smallest overall binary (75KB), AOT compilation, zero runtime overhead
• Cons: Limited JavaScript feature support, newer/experimental toolchain
• Best for: Single JavaScript applications, maximum size optimization, performance-critical scenarios

QuickJS Approach

• Pros: Full JavaScript engine (286KB), excellent JS compatibility, smaller than Goja, mature JS engine
• Cons: Requires WASI runtime, larger than AOT approaches, Rust compilation complexity
• Best for: Full JavaScript compatibility with size constraints, alternative to Goja

Build Commands

Standard Builds

make build-go IMPL=basic        # Go standard build
make build-tinygo IMPL=basic    # TinyGo standard build
make build-go IMPL=goja         # Go with Goja engine
make build-javy IMPL=javy       # Javy with dynamic linking
make build-porffor IMPL=porffor # Porffor AOT compilation
make build-quickjs IMPL=quickjs # QuickJS Rust + JavaScript engine

Optimized Builds

make build-optimized IMPL=basic         # Go optimized build
make build-tinygo-optimized IMPL=basic  # TinyGo optimized build
make build-optimized IMPL=goja          # Go optimized with Goja
make build-javy-optimized IMPL=javy     # Javy optimized (same as standard)
make build-porffor-optimized IMPL=porffor # Porffor optimized (wasm-opt disabled)

Size Comparison

make size-comparison  # Compare all implementations and optimization levels

Runtime Integration

Go/TinyGo WASM

• Uses wasm_exec.js runtime
• Functions exposed globally
• Direct function calls

Javy WASM

• Uses WASI (WebAssembly System Interface)
• Communicates via stdin/stdout
• Requires Node.js WASI or wasmtime runtime

Historical Data

2025-08-18 - Porffor Integration

• Added Porffor AOT JavaScript-to-WASM compiler support
• Achieved 40.3% size reduction with AOT compilation (513KB vs 860KB)
• Implemented ahead-of-time JavaScript compilation with zero runtime overhead
• Confirmed wasm-opt compatibility issues with Porffor exception handling
• Porffor provides moderate size reduction with JavaScript AOT compilation

2025-08-18 - Javy Integration

• Added Javy JavaScript-to-WASM compiler support
• Implemented dynamic linking with shared plugin architecture
• Achieved 99.5% size reduction for individual modules (4KB vs 860KB)
• Created Node.js WASI adapter for test integration
• Confirmed wasm-opt compatibility issues with Javy plugins

2025-08-18 - Optimization Implementation

• Added maximum optimization flags for both Go and TinyGo builds
• Integrated wasm-opt post-processing for all optimized builds
• Achieved 89.3% size reduction for basic implementation with TinyGo optimized build
• Confirmed all optimized builds pass full test suite (11/11 tests)

Recommendations

Based on Gzipped Sizes (Web Deployment)

• For single JavaScript operation: Use Porffor AOT (75KB gzipped)
• For 2-3 JavaScript operations: Use Porffor AOT (~150-225KB total)
• For 4+ JavaScript operations: Use QuickJS (286KB + minimal strings) ⭐ Best scaling
• For single Go operation: Use TinyGo optimized (93KB gzipped)
• For Go-heavy logic: Use Go optimized (844KB raw, ~350KB gzipped estimated)
• For full JavaScript engine (size-conscious): Use QuickJS (286KB gzipped)
• For maximum JavaScript compatibility: Use Goja (3.7MB gzipped)
• For maximum compatibility: Use Go standard (860KB raw, ~400KB gzipped estimated)

Use Case Scenarios

OpenAPI Document Processing (10+ operations):

• ⭐ Javy: 506KB total (excellent scaling)
• Porffor: 750KB total (good for smaller sets)
• TinyGo: 930KB total (Go-native approach)

Single Transformation Service:

• ⭐ Porffor: 75KB (smallest single operation)
• TinyGo: 93KB (Go-native)
• Javy: 488KB (overkill for single operation)

Microservices Architecture:

• ⭐ Javy: Shared 488KB runtime + 2KB per service
• Porffor: 75KB per service (good for independent deployment)
• TinyGo: 93KB per service (Go-native microservices)