MXML Components VS ActionScript Components–Is the Memory Usage of Components Built with MXML tag Bigger than that of Components Built in ActionScript

July 9th, 2008 Ntt.cc

System-Memory-256x256 I am working on an application which contains many components. I have been puzzled by a problem for a long time: Is the memory usage of components built with mxml tag bigger than that of components built in actionScript? I did a simple experiment below to find the truth.

Preparation: use the codes below to add new mxml component:

  1. <mx:Button/> <mx:TextInput/>
  2. <mx:Button/> <mx:TextInput/>
  3. <mx:Button/> <mx:TextInput/>

Comment : use copy and paste command to get enough components for this experiment.

use the codes below to add new script component:

  1. var amount:Number = 1;
  2. for(var i:Number = 0 ; i < amount; i++)
  3. {
  4.     addChild(new Button());//addChild(new TextInput())
  5. }

Comment : use variable “amount” to control the amount of script component.

Environment:

Hardware: Intel P4 3.0G | 1.93G RAM

Operation System: Windows XP sp2

Player: Flash Player 9.0.115

Flex SDK: Flex 2.0.1 Hotfix 3

Result:

Without any Button :14596k(0)

With 1 MXML Button(1)

With 1 Script Button(2)

Differ Between(1-2)

Memory size

14984k

14852k

14984-14852=132

Differ with normal( i – 0)

14984-14596=388

14852-14596=256

132/1 = 132

With 30 MXML Button(1)

With 30 Script Button(2)

Differ Between(1-2)

Memory size

15528k

15352k

15528-15352=176

Differ with normal( i – 0)

15528-14596=932

15352-14596=756

176/30=5.8667

With 120 MXML Button(1)

With 120 Script Button(2)

Differ Between(1-2)

Memory size

17140k

16924k

17140-16924=216

Differ with normal( i – 0)

17140-14596=2544

16924-14596=2328

216/120 = 1.8

With 240 MXML Button(1)

With 240 Script Button(2)

Differ Between(1-2)

Memory size

18932k

18584k

18932-18584=348

Differ with normal( i – 0)

18932-14596=4336

18584-14596=3988

348/240=1.45

Without any TextInput:14596k(0)

With 1 MXML TextInput(1)

With 1 Script TextInput(2)

Differ Between(1-2)

Memory size

14988k

14896k

14988-14896=92

Differ with normal( i – 0)

14988-14596=392

14896-14596=300

92/1=92

With 4 MXML TextInput(1)

With 4 Script TextInput(2)

Differ Between(1-2)

Memory size

15024k

14968k

15024-14968=56

Differ with normal( i – 0)

15024-14596=428

14968-14596=372

56/4=14

With 30 MXML TextInput(1)

With 30 Script TextInput(2)

Differ Between(1-2)

Memory size

15588k

15300k

15588-15300=288

Differ with normal( i – 0)

15588-14596=992

15300-14596=704

288/30=9.6

With 120 MXML TextInput(1)

With 120 Script TextInput(2)

Differ Between(1-2)

Memory size

16740k

16520k

16740-16520=220

Differ with normal( i – 0)

16740-14596=2144

16520-14596=1924

220/120=1.8333

With 1000 MXML TextInput(1)

With 1000 Script TextInput(2)

Differ Between(1-2)

Memory size

30588k

29620k

30588-29620=968

Differ with normal( i – 0)

30588-14596=15992

29620-14596=15024

968/1000=0.968

Conclusion:

With the data displayed above , as the number of components increasing, the differences between the MXML component and script component is smaller and smaller. However, the amount of components we used is among a small number commonly. so , if we want to save some memory, it’s better to use script component than mxml component.

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5 Responses to “MXML Components VS ActionScript Components–Is the Memory Usage of Components Built with MXML tag Bigger than that of Components Built in ActionScript”

  1. Drew Mauer says:
    July 11, 2008 at 1:17 am

    Very informative! I’m curious (and don’t have the time unfortunately) to know what the difference is between MXML web service components vs AS web service declarations.

  2. hydra1983 says:
    July 11, 2008 at 6:24 pm

    Sorry, i am being busy these days.
    I will make a test with web service if i got some time.
    Thank you. :)

  3. hasselquist.net » Blog Archive » A trick of ActionScript 3: Using break “labelname” to break from outer loops says:
    August 21, 2008 at 10:09 am

    [...] MXML Components VS ActionScript Components–Is the Memory Usage of Components Built with MXML t… [...]

  4. Carlos Carvalhar says:
    December 5, 2008 at 1:18 am

    Good information.

  5. Raj Malla says:
    April 4, 2009 at 9:21 pm

    Sure, but is it worth it ?
    Answer would be the same as:
    - Is it worth writing a assembly code over C code ?
    - Is it worth using a raw HTTP call over a web-service call ?
    - Is it worth using plain text over XML for data transfer ?
    - Is it worth rendering a web page using JavaScript than HTML itself [even if it was faster] ?
    In each of these examples, latter is chosen over the former because it addresses certain principles like simplicity, ease of development/maintenance etc the former failed to address.

    What margin of performance would buy you out of a fundamentally true design principle, either front-end or back-end ?
    I would ask for atleast 50%, either memory or time.

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