## Summary
Add a fast path for `structuredClone` and `postMessage` when the root
value is a dense array of primitives or strings. This bypasses the full
`CloneSerializer`/`CloneDeserializer` machinery by keeping data in
native C++ structures instead of serializing to a byte stream.
**Important:** This optimization only applies when the root value passed
to `structuredClone()` / `postMessage()` is an array. Nested arrays
within objects still go through the normal serialization path.
## Implementation
Three tiers of array fast paths, checked in order:
| Tier | Indexing Type | Strategy | Applies When |
|------|--------------|----------|--------------|
| **Tier 1** | `ArrayWithInt32` | `memcpy` butterfly data | Dense int32
array, no holes, no named properties |
| **Tier 2** | `ArrayWithDouble` | `memcpy` butterfly data | Dense
double array, no holes, no named properties |
| **Tier 3** | `ArrayWithContiguous` | Copy elements into
`FixedVector<variant<JSValue, String>>` | Dense array of
primitives/strings, no holes, no named properties |
All tiers fall through to the normal serialization path when:
- The array has holes that must forward to the prototype
- The array has named properties (e.g., `arr.foo = "bar"`) — checked via
`structure->maxOffset() != invalidOffset`
- Elements contain non-primitive, non-string values (objects, arrays,
etc.)
- The context requires wire-format serialization (storage, cross-process
transfer)
### Deserialization
- **Tier 1/2:** Allocate a new `Butterfly` via `vm.auxiliarySpace()`,
`memcpy` data back, create array with `JSArray::createWithButterfly()`.
Falls back to normal deserialization if `isHavingABadTime` (forced
ArrayStorage mode).
- **Tier 3:** Pre-convert elements to `JSValue` (including `jsString()`
allocation), then use `JSArray::tryCreateUninitializedRestricted()` +
`initializeIndex()`.
## Benchmarks
Apple M4 Max, comparing system Bun 1.3.8 vs this branch (release build):
| Benchmark | Before | After | Speedup |
|-----------|--------|-------|---------|
| `structuredClone([10 numbers])` | 308.71 ns | 40.38 ns | **7.6x** |
| `structuredClone([100 numbers])` | 1.62 µs | 86.87 ns | **18.7x** |
| `structuredClone([1000 numbers])` | 13.79 µs | 544.56 ns | **25.3x** |
| `structuredClone([10 strings])` | 642.38 ns | 307.38 ns | **2.1x** |
| `structuredClone([100 strings])` | 5.67 µs | 2.57 µs | **2.2x** |
| `structuredClone([10 mixed])` | 446.32 ns | 198.35 ns | **2.3x** |
| `structuredClone(nested array)` | 1.84 µs | 1.79 µs | 1.0x (not
eligible) |
| `structuredClone({a: 123})` | 95.98 ns | 100.07 ns | 1.0x (no
regression) |
Int32 arrays see the largest gains (up to 25x) since they use a direct
`memcpy` of butterfly memory. String/mixed arrays see ~2x improvement.
No performance regression on non-eligible inputs.
## Bug Fix
Also fixes a correctness bug where arrays with named properties (e.g.,
`arr.foo = "bar"`) would lose those properties when going through the
array fast path. Added a `structure->maxOffset() != invalidOffset` guard
to fall back to normal serialization for such arrays.
Fixed a minor double-counting issue in `computeMemoryCost` where
`JSValue` elements in `SimpleArray` were counted both by `byteSize()`
and individually.
## Test Plan
38 tests in `test/js/web/structured-clone-fastpath.test.ts` covering:
- Basic array types: empty, numbers, strings, mixed primitives, special
numbers (`-0`, `NaN`, `Infinity`)
- Large arrays (10,000 elements)
- Tier 2: double arrays, Int32→Double transition
- Deep clone independence verification
- Named properties on Int32, Double, and Contiguous arrays
- `postMessage` via `MessageChannel` for Int32, Double, and mixed arrays
- Edge cases: frozen/sealed arrays, deleted elements (holes), `length`
extension, single-element arrays
- Prototype modification (custom prototype, indexed prototype properties
with holes)
- `Array` subclass identity loss (per spec)
- `undefined`-only and `null`-only arrays
- Multiple independent clones from the same source
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: autofix-ci[bot] <114827586+autofix-ci[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Tests
Finding tests
Tests are located in the test/ directory and are organized using the following structure:
test/js/- tests for JavaScript APIs.cli/- tests for commands, configs, and stdout.bundler/- tests for the transpiler/bundler.regression/- tests that reproduce a specific issue.harness.ts- utility functions that can be imported from any test.
The tests in test/js/ directory are further categorized by the type of API.
test/js/bun/- tests forBun-specific APIs.node/- tests for Node.js APIs.web/- tests for Web APIs, likefetch().first_party/- tests for npm packages that are built-in, likeundici.third_party/- tests for npm packages that are not built-in, but are popular, likeesbuild.
Running tests
To run a test, use Bun's built-in test command: bun test.
bun test # Run all tests
bun test js/bun # Only run tests in a directory
bun test sqlite.test.ts # Only run a specific test
If you encounter lots of errors, try running bun install, then trying again.
Writing tests
Tests are written in TypeScript (preferred) or JavaScript using Jest's describe(), test(), and expect() APIs.
import { describe, test, expect } from "bun:test";
import { gcTick } from "harness";
describe("TextEncoder", () => {
test("can encode a string", async () => {
const encoder = new TextEncoder();
const actual = encoder.encode("bun");
await gcTick();
expect(actual).toBe(new Uint8Array([0x62, 0x75, 0x6E]));
});
});
If you are fixing a bug that was reported from a GitHub issue, remember to add a test in the test/regression/ directory.
// test/regression/issue/02005.test.ts
import { it, expect } from "bun:test";
it("regex literal should work with non-latin1", () => {
const text = "这是一段要替换的文字";
expect(text.replace(new RegExp("要替换"), "")).toBe("这是一段的文字");
expect(text.replace(/要替换/, "")).toBe("这是一段的文字");
});
In the future, a bot will automatically close or re-open issues when a regression is detected or resolved.
Zig tests
These tests live in various .zig files throughout Bun's codebase, leveraging Zig's builtin test keyword.
Currently, they're not run automatically nor is there a simple way to run all of them. We will make this better soon.
TypeScript
Test files should be written in TypeScript. The types in packages/bun-types should be updated to support all new APIs. Changes to the .d.ts files in packages/bun-types will be immediately reflected in test files; no build step is necessary.
Writing a test will often require using invalid syntax, e.g. when checking for errors when an invalid input is passed to a function. TypeScript provides a number of escape hatches here.
// @ts-expect-error- This should be your first choice. It tells TypeScript that the next line should fail typechecking.// @ts-ignore- Ignore the next line entirely.// @ts-nocheck- Put this at the top of the file to disable typechecking on the entire file. Useful for autogenerated test files, or when ignoring/disabling type checks an a per-line basis is too onerous.