https://aneesiqbal.ai Personal blog feed of Anees Iqbal Mon, 16 Mar 2026 02:19:52 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html https://github.com/jpmonette/feed en All rights reserved 2026, Anees Iqbal https://aneesiqbal.ai/2025-04-18-walled-gardens-can-kill https://aneesiqbal.ai/2025-04-18-walled-gardens-can-kill Fri, 18 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://aneesiqbal.ai/2020-09-21-what-i-learned-flashing-an-eeprom https://aneesiqbal.ai/2020-09-21-what-i-learned-flashing-an-eeprom Mon, 21 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://aneesiqbal.ai/2020-05-17-what-i-dont-like-about-node-js https://aneesiqbal.ai/2020-05-17-what-i-dont-like-about-node-js Sun, 17 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT ` tags by hand (and having to maintain the order of dependencies). You can configure them to do much more than that but that's the gist of it. For a module bundler to become widely successful, it has to be configurable, work well and be reasonably fast. Now the configurability and being reasonably fast are difficult to achive together as I have come to learn through experience. For example, if you control all the steps in the pipeline, you only have to parse the file once and continue to work on AST from then onwards. Making it configurable means that each step much pass on the resultant string or buffer to the next step. Most module bundlers of current time work this around by manipulating strings directly using [magic-string][] or something similar to it. Using it allows you to infer trivial things and replace imports with internal references. Making the pipeline configurable however means that someone could put Babel transpilation or Terser minification in there, so your direct-string-manipulation isn't going to stop parsing and re-parsing. Another thing that makes this very difficult, if not impossible to scale with the number of cores is the fact that you cannot share objects between threads in Node.js. IPC in Node.js is quite expensive, expensive enough that you have to architect your module bundler so that one process does nothing but task the others and even then, it ends up being bottle-necked because of IPC overhead of serializing and unserializing these thousands of files and their state at different steps in the pipeline, not to mention that if you want to avoid re-parsing the file, AST is much much bigger than the source and you **require** most metadata of all the files in a bundle to generate a source map. Node.js only recently got proper multi threading support via [`worker_threads`][], but even that does not allow sharing actual objects, only transferring ownership of Buffers. The source of lack of ability to transfer objects instead of Buffers, per my unverified source is that v8 locks the entire virtual machine to all threads when you try to call something in parallel. So your module bundler is limited by the fundamental limitations of the v8 engine. It's like trying to run a horse race with only one horse. You cannot work around it. [JavascriptCore][] (the JS engine used inside Safari) does not however lock the entire virtual machine but only the specific execution context. There was an attempt by [@voodooattack][] to create a runtime on top of it to rival (if not compliment) Node.js. It is called [Nexus.js][] and available on Github. It supports [Concurrent Variable Access][] among other cool things but sadly hasn't gotten the love it deserved. Most Module Bundlers, if they were just ported to Nexus.js with no changes other than to remove their current worker pooling implementations would run many many times faster. Alas. Further reading: - [Locking in Webkit - Webkit Blog](https://webkit.org/blog/6161/locking-in-webkit/) [Node.js]:https://nodejs.org/en/ [Webpack]:https://webpack.js.org/ [Rollup]:https://rollupjs.org/ [Parcel]:https://parceljs.org/ [Pundle]:https://github.com/steelbrain/pundle [magic-string]:https://github.com/Rich-Harris/magic-string [`worker_threads`]:https://nodejs.org/api/worker_threads.html [JavascriptCore]:https://developer.apple.com/documentation/javascriptcore [@voodooattack]:https://github.com/voodooattack [Nexus.js]:https://github.com/voodooattack/nexusjs [Concurrent Variable Access]:https://www.nexusjs.com/architecture/#concurrent-variable-access ]]> https://aneesiqbal.ai/2018-07-09-how-imports-are-handled-in-pundle https://aneesiqbal.ai/2018-07-09-how-imports-are-handled-in-pundle Mon, 09 Jul 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://aneesiqbal.ai/2018-07-09-how-hmr-in-pundle-works https://aneesiqbal.ai/2018-07-09-how-hmr-in-pundle-works Mon, 09 Jul 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://aneesiqbal.ai/2018-07-09-an-intro-to-pundle https://aneesiqbal.ai/2018-07-09-an-intro-to-pundle Mon, 09 Jul 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://aneesiqbal.ai/2018-03-08-feminism-vs-equality https://aneesiqbal.ai/2018-03-08-feminism-vs-equality Thu, 08 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://aneesiqbal.ai/2017-11-22-why-reason https://aneesiqbal.ai/2017-11-22-why-reason Wed, 22 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT On a large enough scale, quantity compensates for quality." Thus, reason helps make societies where laws are fair, equal and enforced on all. In a reasonable society, we take risks every time we make a statement. If the statement is verified, we gain trust of others or establish ourselves as liars otherwise. But the statements are not always verifiable, in which cases the liars would have a hard time convincing people of their occasional truth than truth tellers of their occasional lies. The modern age of technology makes connection to the entire world incredibly easy. While it exposes us to people of vastly different cultures and beliefs, it also allows us to connect with millions of other people that think the way we do. People of the latter kind end up in an echo chamber that amplifies their thoughts ten folds. This pushes them further into the cave of ignorance and farther from the truth reason promises. I have lost track of how many times I've seen a celebrity say things like "[Name] is a horrible person" without stating why they think that, which results in a backlash from supporters of the person referenced, which are again offensive statements without reason. This continues until the original poster claims the backlash is because of their race or gender and does still not explain why they said what they did. Actions such as these are not only condescending but also very counter-productive. They do not encourage improvement while discouraging current behavior. The next time someone claims on Twitter, that someone else is a terrible person, don't reply to them saying they are a terrible person for posting this. Instead, ask for their reasoning and proof so you can dismiss it or believe it based on your criteria of truth. ]]> https://aneesiqbal.ai/2017-06-10-how-to-be-happy https://aneesiqbal.ai/2017-06-10-how-to-be-happy Sat, 10 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMT https://aneesiqbal.ai/2017-03-13-linter-v2-released https://aneesiqbal.ai/2017-03-13-linter-v2-released Mon, 13 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT ## Busy Signal Integration The new Linter UI now includes busy signal integration so you know which Linter provider is being excuted on which file. ## Intentions Integration Linter now fully integrates with the [`intentions`][] package. This allows providers to use `solutions` in v2 and `fix` in v1 to allow the users to fix the issue without leaving the comfort of their Atom Editor. ## Toggling Linter Providers Linter v2 now includes commands to toggle linter providers from the command pallete. ## Tooltip Enhancements We all know how intrusive tooltips can become when they follow your keyboard, therefore in v2 We've added an option for them to follow your mouse. This provides a much more comfortable Linter experience. ## TreeView Decoration Linter v2 now decorates your TreeView. This is especially useful when combined with Project-Scoped linters like [`flow-ide`][] as it gives you the status of your entire project in just one look. ## Upgrading to Linter v2 If you are a package maintainer, we've prepared [migration docs](https://github.com/steelbrain/linter/tree/master/docs#migration-guides) for you. They are not perfect but we're open to contributions! ## Closing Thoughts You can see [Linter v2 in Action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek7p49sf8Eo) in the demo video. This release is really exciting for me. I want to thank [Landon Abney](https://github.com/Arcanemagus) for his continued involvement in the Linter Project and for maintaining dozens of repositories in the [AtomLinter](https://github.com/AtomLinter) org. Thanks to everyone who has ever contributed to the Linter Project, and the users for providing useful bug reports. Peace out 👋 ☮. [`linter`]:https://atom.io/packages/linter [`linter-ui-default`]:https://atom.io/packages/linter-ui-default [`intentions`]:https://atom.io/packages/intentions [`flow-ide`]:https://atom.io/packages/flow-ide ]]> https://aneesiqbal.ai/2017-01-29-should-i-root-my-android-phone https://aneesiqbal.ai/2017-01-29-should-i-root-my-android-phone Sun, 29 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT https://aneesiqbal.ai/2016-07-19-how-i-manage-multiple-node-js-versions https://aneesiqbal.ai/2016-07-19-how-i-manage-multiple-node-js-versions Tue, 19 Jul 2016 00:00:00 GMT https://aneesiqbal.ai/2016-04-15-how-i-debug-node-js https://aneesiqbal.ai/2016-04-15-how-i-debug-node-js Fri, 15 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMT