[PROTON-2501] Eliminate all use of the pn_data_t data structure in AMQP frame processing critical path

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Open
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Unresolved
• Component/s: proton-c
• Assignee: Andrew Stitcher
• Reporter: Andrew Stitcher
• Created: 15/Feb/22 14:16
• Updated: 21/Feb/22 18:01

Description

In current proton protocol processing code make heavy use of the pn_data_t data structure for coding and decoding AMQP frames to send and receive. Unfortunately the data structure is complex and the code which uses it is not very efficient. This means that a lot of CPU is consumed maniputing these data structures unnecessarily during the critical path operations of proton. During frame processing pn_data_t is not even really necessary as it is only used as an intermediary to extract necessary frame parameters out of the frames (or as an intermediary to construct the frames from the necessary frame parameters.

This means that is entirely feasible to go directly from/to the parameters to/from the frames without using an intermediate pn_data_t at all.

Much (most?) of this work has now been done but there are a few aspects still open:

A complicated aspect of this and one yet to complete is that of using non scalar structured data as part of AMQP frames, Specifically where maps are used as part of the frame - for instance in the various property maps.

Issue Links

• is a clone of: PROTON-2451 Reduce (ultimately eliminate) all use of the pn_data_t data structure in AMQP frame processing