fast-async-zlib

fast-async-zlib

Speed up zlib operations by running them using the sync APIs but in a Worker.

npm install fast-async-zlib

Usage

Works similar to the core zlib module, except it uses a Worker to batch pending zips which can be quite faster than using the normal zlib.gzip(data, cb) API.

const ZLibWorker = require('fast-async-zlib')

const z = new ZLibWorker({
  maxBatchBytes: 1024 * 1024 // how large a batch buffer should be used? (1 MB default)
})

const buf = await z.gzip('some data')
console.log('gzipped:', buf)

There is a small bench included that benches three approaches to zipping 100k ~1kb strings. On my laptop it produces the following result:

running bench
using core sync: 3.383s
using core async: 4.640s
using worker: 2.870s
re-running bench
using core sync: 3.873s
using core async: 4.843s
using worker: 2.929s

Ie. worker.gzip is ~10% faster than zlib.gzipSync and ~40% faster than zlib.gzip(data, cb).

API

const z = new ZLibWorker([options])

Create a new worker instance. Will use a Worker thread in the background to run the actual gzip, using a SharedArrayBuffer to pass data back and fourth. Options include:

{
  maxBatch: 512, // how many entries to max batch to the worker
  maxBatchBytes: 1MB // how much memory to use for the shared array buffer
}

Note that maxBatchBytes must be larger than largest payload you pass to z.gzip(payload), otherwise that method will throw an exception.

If this is a big problem to you, open an issue and we'll see if can make the buffer autogrow easily.

const buf = await z.gzip(inp)

Gzip a string or buffer using the worker.

z.destroy()

Fully destroy the worker. Only needed if you for some reason want to get rid of it while the program is running.

const pool = ZLibWorker.pool(size, [options])

Make a simple worker pool of the given size. Has the same API as the ZLibWorker but will use size workers behind the scenes to spread out the load.

Future

If you have a need for gunzip, inflate, deflate etc open an issue and we'll see about adding it.

License

MIT