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[PATCH] apply delta depth bias to already deltified objects

From
Nicolas Pitre <nico@cam.org>
Date
Jul 12, 2007, 18:33 UTC
Message-ID
<alpine.LFD.0.999.0707121415450.32552@xanadu.home>
In-Reply-To
<alpine.LFD.0.999.0707120049120.32552@xanadu.home>

We already apply a bias on the initial delta attempt with max_size being a function of the base object depth. This has the effect of favoring shallower deltas even if deeper deltas could be smaller, and therefore creating a wider delta tree (see commits 4e8da195 and c3b06a69).

This principle should also be applied to all delta attempts for the same object and not only the first attempt. With this the criteria for the best delta is not only its size but also its depth, so that a shallower delta might be selected even if it is larger than a deeper one. Even if some deltas get larger, they allow for wider delta trees making the depth limit less quickly reached and therefore better deltas can be subsequently found, keeping the resulting pack size even smaller. Runtime access to the pack should also benefit from shallower deltas.

Testing on different repositories showed slighter faster repacks, smaller resulting packs, and a much nicer curve for delta depth distribution with no more peak at the maximum depth level. Improvements are even more significant with smaller depth limits.

Signed-off-by: Nicolas Pitre <nico@cam.org>
---

No, I wonn't provide the full test results again. Yes, they're different and even slightly better with this version, but I can't be bothered to run them all and wait for the results again. You'll have to take my word or do your own.

diff --git a/builtin-pack-objects.c b/builtin-pack-objects.c
index 54b9d26..b4f3e7c 100644
--- a/builtin-pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin-pack-objects.c
@@ -1303,6 +1303,7 @@ static int try_delta(struct unpacked *trg, struct unpacked *src,
 	struct object_entry *trg_entry = trg->entry;
 	struct object_entry *src_entry = src->entry;
 	unsigned long trg_size, src_size, delta_size, sizediff, max_size, sz;
+	unsigned ref_depth;
 	enum object_type type;
 	void *delta_buf;
 
@@ -1332,12 +1333,17 @@ static int try_delta(struct unpacked *trg, struct unpacked *src,
 
 	/* Now some size filtering heuristics. */
 	trg_size = trg_entry->size;
-	max_size = trg_size/2 - 20;
-	max_size = max_size * (max_depth - src_entry->depth) / max_depth;
+	if (!trg_entry->delta) {
+		max_size = trg_size/2 - 20;
+		ref_depth = 1;
+	} else {
+		max_size = trg_entry->delta_size;
+		ref_depth = trg_entry->depth;
+	}
+	max_size = max_size * (max_depth - src_entry->depth) /
+						(max_depth - ref_depth + 1);
 	if (max_size == 0)
 		return 0;
-	if (trg_entry->delta && trg_entry->delta_size <= max_size)
-		max_size = trg_entry->delta_size;
 	src_size = src_entry->size;
 	sizediff = src_size < trg_size ? trg_size - src_size : 0;
 	if (sizediff >= max_size)
Previous: Nicolas Pitre
Message 6 of 6 in “apply delta depth bias to already deltified objects”
  1. apply delta depth bias to already deltified objectsNicolas Pitre, Jul 12, 2007
  2. Brian DowningJul 12, 2007
  3. Nicolas PitreJul 12, 2007
  4. Brian DowningJul 12, 2007
  5. Nicolas PitreJul 12, 2007
  6. apply delta depth bias to already deltified objectsNicolas Pitre, Jul 12, 2007

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