From 0ac30d51c72f7efafb9bcaea8d3e0e4485683b8b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: JackJ30 Date: Tue, 13 May 2025 19:49:48 -0400 Subject: updated emacs article --- zola-static/content/blog/emacs-garbage-collection.md | 17 ++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-) (limited to 'zola-static/content/blog/emacs-garbage-collection.md') diff --git a/zola-static/content/blog/emacs-garbage-collection.md b/zola-static/content/blog/emacs-garbage-collection.md index bca0f13..14fd223 100644 --- a/zola-static/content/blog/emacs-garbage-collection.md +++ b/zola-static/content/blog/emacs-garbage-collection.md @@ -3,18 +3,17 @@ title = "Solving Emacs Garbage Collection Stutters" date = 2025-05-12 +++ -The more you load Emacs up with packages, the more it starts to show its age. Throw on a theme and an lsp client, and you might start to notice frequent stuttering. - -This problem was very frustrating for me - I dealt with it for months, and considered quitting Emacs altogether. I want to be able to hold `C-n` and linearly move down the document, micro-stutter *free*. +The more you load Emacs up with packages, the more it starts to chug. Throw on a theme and an lsp client, and you might start to notice frequent stuttering. +This problem was very frustrating for me - I want to be able to hold `C-n` and linearly move down the document, micro-stutter *free*. I spent weeks searching for the problem, and considered quitting Emacs altogether. # Garbage Collection -It turns out that the problem wasn't that packages were executing slowly, it was the garbage that they were building up. Emacs' garbage collector waits until a byte threshold has been reached before executing. -> This value feels relatively low for a modern computer - only `800KB`. +It turns out that the problem wasn't that packages were executing slowly, it was the garbage that they were building up. -Once threshold is reached the garbage collection process takes time, and causes the stutter. If you want to see just how often this triggers the GC, try setting `garbage-collection-messages` to non nil (you might be surprised how often it triggers). As with most things in Emacs, you can tune this behaviour. +Emacs' garbage collector waits until a byte threshold (the `gc-cons-threshold` variable) has been reached before executing. Its default value feels relatively low for a modern computer - only `800KB`. This results in frequent garbage collections, each causing a small stutter. Luckily, as with most things in Emacs, you can tune this behaviour. +> If you want to see how frequently the GC is triggered, try setting `garbage-collection-messages` to non nil (you might be surprised). -Opinions differ. +Opinions on the ideal solution differ. - Some people recommend **increasing** the threshold, leading to longer times without triggering the GC but longer stutters. - Others recommend **lowering** the threshold, causing more frequent GC triggers but smaller stutters. - The minibuffer (especially with packages like `vertico`) can use a lot of memory, so some [recommend](https://bling.github.io/blog/2016/01/18/why-are-you-changing-gc-cons-threshold/) increasing the threshold only when using it. @@ -35,6 +34,6 @@ I also *basically* disable the threshold entirely when in the minibuffer. Here's (run-with-idle-timer 1.2 t 'garbage-collect) ``` -I have been using this for a few months and it's worked perfectly. I've tried my best to notice the garbage collections, I can't. +I have been using this for a few months and it's worked perfectly. I've tried my best to notice the garbage collections, I haven't been able to. -> There is a package which does the same thing, called [the Garbage Collector Magic Hack](https://github.com/emacsmirror/gcmh). Personally I prefer a lower idle time, and keeping it in my own config. +> There is a package for this, called [the Garbage Collector Magic Hack](https://github.com/emacsmirror/gcmh). Personally I prefer a lower idle time than its default, and I like keeping it in my own config. -- cgit v1.2.3