Janet on x32: 32-bit Pointers, 64-bit Speed, 25% Less RAM
Janet, a programming language, can run efficiently on 64-bit systems using 32-bit pointers, resulting in significant memory savings and improved speed. However, the Linux x32 ABI, which enables this feature, is largely unused and underutilized. Hailey Janet experimented with deploying Mastodon on x32 and found memory usage reduced from 650MB to 350MB.
To achieve this, modifications to the build script and hijacking build flags are necessary. While the 32-bit approach saves memory, it executes 50% slower than the standard 64-bit mode. Implementing this on a larger scale may not be justified due to the lack of performance benefits and the need for alternative garbage collection strategies and heap object reductions.
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