rust/hgcli/README.rst

nodemap: introduce an option to use mmap to read the nodemap mapping

The performance and memory benefit is much greater if we don't have to copy all
the data in memory for each information. So we introduce an option (on by
default) to read the data using mmap.

This changeset is the last one definition the API for index support nodemap
data. (they have to be able to use the mmaping).

Below are some benchmark comparing the best we currently have in 5.3 with the
final step of this series (using the persistent nodemap implementation in
Rust). The benchmark run `hg perfindex` with various revset and the following
variants:

Before:

 * do not use the persistent nodemap
 * use the CPython implementation of the index for nodemap
 * use mmapping of the changelog index

After:

 * use the MixedIndex Rust code, with the NodeTree object for nodemap access
   (still in review)
 * use the persistent nodemap data from disk
 * access the persistent nodemap data through mmap
 * use mmapping of the changelog index

The persistent nodemap greatly speed up  most operation on very large
repositories. Some of the previously very fast lookup end up a bit slower because
the persistent nodemap has to be setup. However the absolute slowdown is very
small and won't matters in the big picture.

Here are some numbers (in seconds) for the reference copy of mozilla-try:

Revset            Before   After     abs-change speedup

-10000:           0.004622 0.005532   0.000910  ×   0.83
-10:              0.000050 0.000132   0.000082  ×   0.37
tip               0.000052 0.000085   0.000033  ×   0.61
0 + (-10000:)     0.028222 0.005337  -0.022885  ×   5.29
0                 0.023521 0.000084  -0.023437  × 280.01
(-10000:) + 0     0.235539 0.005308  -0.230231  ×  44.37
(-10:) + :9       0.232883 0.000180  -0.232703  ×1293.79
(-10000:) + (:99) 0.238735 0.005358  -0.233377  ×  44.55
:99 + (-10000:)   0.317942 0.005593  -0.312349  ×  56.84
:9 + (-10:)       0.313372 0.000179  -0.313193  ×1750.68
:9                0.316450 0.000143  -0.316307  ×2212.93


On smaller repositories, the cost of nodemap related operation is not as big, so
the win is much more modest. Yet it helps shaving a handful of millisecond here
and there.

Here are some numbers (in seconds) for the reference copy of mercurial:

Revset            Before   After     abs-change speedup
-10:              0.000065 0.000097   0.000032  × 0.67
tip               0.000063 0.000078   0.000015  × 0.80
0                 0.000561 0.000079  -0.000482  × 7.10
-10000:           0.004609 0.003648  -0.000961  × 1.26
0 + (-10000:)     0.005023 0.003715  -0.001307  × 1.35
(-10:) + :9       0.002187 0.000108  -0.002079  ×20.25
(-10000:) + 0     0.006252 0.003716  -0.002536  × 1.68
(-10000:) + (:99) 0.006367 0.003707  -0.002660  × 1.71
:9 + (-10:)       0.003846 0.000110  -0.003736  ×34.96
:9                0.003854 0.000099  -0.003755  ×38.92
:99 + (-10000:)   0.007644 0.003778  -0.003866  × 2.02

Differential Revision: https://phab.mercurial-scm.org/D7894

Features
--------

The following Cargo features are available:

localdev (default)
   Produce files that work with an in-source-tree build.

   In this mode, the build finds and uses a ``python2.7`` binary from
   ``PATH``. The ``hg`` binary assumes it runs from ``rust/target/<target>hg``
   and it finds Mercurial files at ``dirname($0)/../../../``.

Build Mechanism
---------------

The produced ``hg`` binary is *bound* to a CPython installation. The
binary links against and loads a CPython library that is discovered
at build time (by a ``build.rs`` Cargo build script). The Python
standard library defined by this CPython installation is also used.

Finding the appropriate CPython installation to use is done by
the ``python27-sys`` crate's ``build.rs``. Its search order is::

1. ``PYTHON_SYS_EXECUTABLE`` environment variable.
2. ``python`` executable on ``PATH``
3. ``python2`` executable on ``PATH``
4. ``python2.7`` executable on ``PATH``

Additional verification of the found Python will be performed by our
``build.rs`` to ensure it meets Mercurial's requirements.

Details about the build-time configured Python are built into the
produced ``hg`` binary. This means that a built ``hg`` binary is only
suitable for a specific, well-defined role. These roles are controlled
by Cargo features (see above).

Running
=======

The ``hgcli`` crate produces an ``hg`` binary. You can run this binary
via ``cargo run``::

   $ cargo run --manifest-path hgcli/Cargo.toml

Or directly::

   $ target/debug/hg
   $ target/release/hg

You can also run the test harness with this binary::

   $ ./run-tests.py --with-hg ../rust/target/debug/hg

.. note::

   Integration with the test harness is still preliminary. Remember to
   ``cargo build`` after changes because the test harness doesn't yet
   automatically build Rust code.