2 ms·

I'm seeing it being at least a bit feasible with package managers that allow the ability to config/build packages and install them locally according to needs by

I'm seeing it being at least a bit feasible with package managers that allow the ability to config/build packages and install them locally according to needs by the developer .. something like Gobolinux with its bundle garden, combined with a configuration-management tool that can build every package with every possible configuration .. Bit of a goose, though. As in, not sure it'll fly in its current (scrambled eggs) state. Perhaps a rewrite is really what's needed .. or maybe HaikuOS can deliver this without much ruffling of feathers?

tenaciousDaniel 8y ago
Yeah I agree. What OP is describing would require an architectural shift in the way npm packages are built, IMO. Sidenote, this is related, and pretty interesting: https://npm.anvaka.com https://npm.anvaka.com
phaedrus 8y ago
Imagine if the provenance of every code line or machine instruction was tracked all the way from what the human wrote to what the machine executes. Combined with data flow analysis, itself combined with runtime analysis via a feedback process like Profile Guided Optimization. The outcome would be somewhat like a package management tool, but one which can subdivide & prune a package even if the original author wrote it monolithically. It could also provide feedback in the IDE showing which lines are "dead code" that don't contribute to the features which you've declared (via tests) are important.