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diff --git a/system/doc/efficiency_guide/advanced.xml b/system/doc/efficiency_guide/advanced.xml
index 51f1b2612c..3513a91e34 100644
--- a/system/doc/efficiency_guide/advanced.xml
+++ b/system/doc/efficiency_guide/advanced.xml
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
under the License.
-
</legalnotice>
<title>Advanced</title>
@@ -31,175 +30,216 @@
<section>
<title>Memory</title>
- <p>A good start when programming efficiently is to have knowledge about
+ <p>A good start when programming efficiently is to know
how much memory different data types and operations require. It is
implementation-dependent how much memory the Erlang data types and
- other items consume, but here are some figures for the
- erts-5.2 system (OTP release R9B). (There have been no significant
- changes in R13.)</p>
+ other items consume, but the following table shows some figures for
+ the <c>erts-5.2</c> system in R9B. There have been no significant
+ changes in R13.</p>
- <p>The unit of measurement is memory words. There exists both a 32-bit
- and a 64-bit implementation, and a word is therefore, 4 bytes or
+ <p>The unit of measurement is memory words. There exists both a
+ 32-bit and a 64-bit implementation. A word is therefore 4 bytes or
8 bytes, respectively.</p>
<table>
<row>
- <cell align="center" valign="middle">Data type</cell>
- <cell align="center" valign="middle">Memory size</cell>
+ <cell><em>Data Type</em></cell>
+ <cell><em>Memory Size</em></cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Small integer</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">1 word<br></br>
-On 32-bit architectures: -134217729 &lt; i &lt; 134217728 (28 bits)<br></br>
-On 64-bit architectures: -576460752303423489 &lt; i &lt; 576460752303423488 (60 bits)</cell>
+ <cell>Small integer</cell>
+ <cell>1 word.<br></br>
+ On 32-bit architectures: -134217729 &lt; i &lt; 134217728
+ (28 bits).<br></br>
+ On 64-bit architectures: -576460752303423489 &lt; i &lt;
+ 576460752303423488 (60 bits).</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Big integer</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">3..N words</cell>
+ <cell>Large integer</cell>
+ <cell>3..N words.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Atom</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">1 word. Note: an atom refers into
- an atom table which also consumes memory.
+ <cell>Atom</cell>
+ <cell>1 word.<br></br>
+ An atom refers into an atom table, which also consumes memory.
The atom text is stored once for each unique atom in this table.
The atom table is <em>not</em> garbage-collected.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Float</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">On 32-bit architectures: 4 words <br></br>
-On 64-bit architectures: 3 words</cell>
+ <cell>Float</cell>
+ <cell>On 32-bit architectures: 4 words.<br></br>
+ On 64-bit architectures: 3 words.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Binary</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">3..6 + data (can be shared)</cell>
+ <cell>Binary</cell>
+ <cell>3..6 words + data (can be shared).</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">List</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">1 word + 1 word per element + the size of each element</cell>
+ <cell>List</cell>
+ <cell>1 word + 1 word per element + the size of each element.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">String (is the same as a list of integers)</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">1 word + 2 words per character</cell>
+ <cell>String (is the same as a list of integers)</cell>
+ <cell>1 word + 2 words per character.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Tuple</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">2 words + the size of each element</cell>
+ <cell>Tuple</cell>
+ <cell>2 words + the size of each element.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Pid</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">1 word for a process identifier from the current local node, and 5 words for a process identifier from another node. Note: a process identifier refers into a process table and a node table which also consumes memory.</cell>
+ <cell>Pid</cell>
+ <cell>1 word for a process identifier from the current local node
+ + 5 words for a process identifier from another node.<br></br>
+ A process identifier refers into a process table and a node table,
+ which also consumes memory.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Port</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">1 word for a port identifier from the current local node, and 5 words for a port identifier from another node. Note: a port identifier refers into a port table and a node table which also consumes memory.</cell>
+ <cell>Port</cell>
+ <cell>1 word for a port identifier from the current local node
+ + 5 words for a port identifier from another node.<br></br>
+ A port identifier refers into a port table and a node table,
+ which also consumes memory.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Reference</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">On 32-bit architectures: 5 words for a reference from the current local node, and 7 words for a reference from another node. <br></br>
-On 64-bit architectures: 4 words for a reference from the current local node, and 6 words for a reference from another node. Note: a reference refers into a node table which also consumes memory.</cell>
+ <cell>Reference</cell>
+ <cell>On 32-bit architectures: 5 words for a reference from the
+ current local node + 7 words for a reference from another
+ node.<br></br>
+ On 64-bit architectures: 4 words for a reference from the current
+ local node + 6 words for a reference from another node.<br></br>
+ A reference refers into a node table, which also consumes
+ memory.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Fun</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">9..13 words + size of environment. Note: a fun refers into a fun table which also consumes memory.</cell>
+ <cell>Fun</cell>
+ <cell>9..13 words + the size of environment.<br></br>
+ A fun refers into a fun table, which also consumes memory.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Ets table</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Initially 768 words + the size of each element (6 words + size of Erlang data). The table will grow when necessary.</cell>
+ <cell>Ets table</cell>
+ <cell>Initially 768 words + the size of each element (6 words +
+ the size of Erlang data). The table grows when necessary.</cell>
</row>
<row>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">Erlang process</cell>
- <cell align="left" valign="middle">327 words when spawned including a heap of 233 words.</cell>
+ <cell>Erlang process</cell>
+ <cell>327 words when spawned, including a heap of 233 words.</cell>
</row>
- <tcaption>Memory size of different data types</tcaption>
+ <tcaption>Memory Size of Different Data Types</tcaption>
</table>
</section>
<section>
- <title>System limits</title>
- <p>The Erlang language specification puts no limits on number of processes,
- length of atoms etc., but for performance and memory saving reasons,
- there will always be limits in a practical implementation of the Erlang
- language and execution environment.</p>
- <taglist>
- <tag><em>Processes</em></tag>
- <item>
- <p>The maximum number of simultaneously alive Erlang processes is
- by default 32768. This limit can be configured at startup,
- for more information see the
- <seealso marker="erts:erl#max_processes"><c>+P</c></seealso>
- command line flag of
- <seealso marker="erts:erl"><c>erl(1)</c></seealso>.</p>
- </item>
- <tag><em>Distributed nodes</em></tag>
- <item>
- <taglist>
- <tag>Known nodes</tag>
- <item>
- <p>A remote node Y has to be known to node X if there exist
- any pids, ports, references, or funs (Erlang data types) from Y
- on X, or if X and Y are connected. The maximum number of remote
- nodes simultaneously/ever known to a node is limited by the
- <seealso marker="#atoms">maximum number of atoms</seealso>
- available for node names. All data concerning remote nodes,
- except for the node name atom, are garbage-collected.</p>
- </item>
- <tag>Connected nodes</tag>
- <item>The maximum number of simultaneously connected nodes is limited by
- either the maximum number of simultaneously known remote nodes,
- <seealso marker="#ports">the maximum number of (Erlang) ports</seealso>
- available, or
- <seealso marker="#files_sockets">the maximum number of sockets</seealso>
- available.</item>
- </taglist>
- </item>
- <tag><em>Characters in an atom</em></tag>
- <item>255</item>
- <tag><em>Atoms </em></tag>
- <item> <marker id="atoms"></marker>
- By default, the maximum number of atoms is 1048576.
- This limit can be raised or lowered using the <c>+t</c> option.</item>
- <tag><em>Ets-tables</em></tag>
- <item>The default is 1400, can be changed with the environment variable <c>ERL_MAX_ETS_TABLES</c>.</item>
- <tag><em>Elements in a tuple</em></tag>
- <item>The maximum number of elements in a tuple is 67108863 (26 bit unsigned integer). Other factors
- such as the available memory can of course make it hard to create a tuple of that size. </item>
- <tag><em>Size of binary</em></tag>
- <item>In the 32-bit implementation of Erlang, 536870911 bytes is the
- largest binary that can be constructed or matched using the bit syntax.
- (In the 64-bit implementation, the maximum size is 2305843009213693951 bytes.)
- If the limit is exceeded, bit syntax construction will fail with a
- <c>system_limit</c> exception, while any attempt to match a binary that is
- too large will fail.
- This limit is enforced starting with the R11B-4 release; in earlier releases,
- operations on too large binaries would in general either fail or give incorrect
- results.
- In future releases of Erlang/OTP, other operations that create binaries (such as
- <c>list_to_binary/1</c>) will probably also enforce the same limit.</item>
- <tag><em>Total amount of data allocated by an Erlang node</em></tag>
- <item>The Erlang runtime system can use the complete 32 (or 64) bit address space,
- but the operating system often limits a single process to use less than that.</item>
- <tag><em>Length of a node name</em></tag>
- <item>An Erlang node name has the form host@shortname or host@longname. The node name is
- used as an atom within the system so the maximum size of 255 holds for the node name too.</item>
- <tag><em>Open ports</em></tag>
- <item>
- <marker id="ports"></marker>
- <p>The maximum number of simultaneously open Erlang ports is
- often by default 16384. This limit can be configured at startup,
- for more information see the
- <seealso marker="erts:erl#max_ports"><c>+Q</c></seealso>
- command line flag of
- <seealso marker="erts:erl"><c>erl(1)</c></seealso>.</p>
- </item>
- <tag><em>Open files, and sockets</em></tag>
- <item> <marker id="files_sockets"></marker>
+ <title>System Limits</title>
+ <p>The Erlang language specification puts no limits on the number of
+ processes, length of atoms, and so on. However, for performance and
+ memory saving reasons, there will always be limits in a practical
+ implementation of the Erlang language and execution environment.</p>
- The maximum number of simultaneously open files and sockets
- depend on
- <seealso marker="#ports">the maximum number of Erlang ports</seealso>
- available, and operating system specific settings and limits.</item>
- <tag><em>Number of arguments to a function or fun</em></tag>
- <item>255</item>
- </taglist>
+ <table>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Processes</cell>
+ <cell>The maximum number of simultaneously alive Erlang processes
+ is by default 32,768. This limit can be configured at startup.
+ For more information, see the
+ <seealso marker="erts:erl#max_processes"><c>+P</c></seealso>
+ command-line flag in the
+ <seealso marker="erts:erl"><c>erl(1)</c></seealso>
+ manual page in <c>erts</c>.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Known nodes</cell>
+ <cell>A remote node Y must be known to node X if there exists
+ any pids, ports, references, or funs (Erlang data types) from Y
+ on X, or if X and Y are connected. The maximum number of remote
+ nodes simultaneously/ever known to a node is limited by the
+ <seealso marker="#atoms">maximum number of atoms</seealso>
+ available for node names. All data concerning remote nodes,
+ except for the node name atom, are garbage-collected.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Connected nodes</cell>
+ <cell>The maximum number of simultaneously connected nodes is
+ limited by either the maximum number of simultaneously known
+ remote nodes,
+ <seealso marker="#ports">the maximum number of (Erlang) ports</seealso>
+ available, or
+ <seealso marker="#files_sockets">the maximum number of sockets</seealso>
+ available.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Characters in an atom</cell>
+ <cell>255.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell><marker id="atoms"></marker>Atoms</cell>
+ <cell>By default, the maximum number of atoms is 1,048,576. This
+ limit can be raised or lowered using the <c>+t</c> option.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Ets tables</cell>
+ <cell>Default is 1400. It can be changed with the environment
+ variable <c>ERL_MAX_ETS_TABLES</c>.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Elements in a tuple</cell>
+ <cell>The maximum number of elements in a tuple is 67,108,863
+ (26-bit unsigned integer). Clearly, other factors such as the
+ available memory can make it difficult to create a tuple of
+ that size.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Size of binary</cell>
+ <cell>In the 32-bit implementation of Erlang, 536,870,911
+ bytes is the largest binary that can be constructed or matched
+ using the bit syntax. In the 64-bit implementation, the maximum
+ size is 2,305,843,009,213,693,951 bytes. If the limit is
+ exceeded, bit syntax construction fails with a
+ <c>system_limit</c> exception, while any attempt to match a
+ binary that is too large fails. This limit is enforced starting
+ in R11B-4.<br></br>
+ In earlier Erlang/OTP releases, operations on too large
+ binaries in general either fail or give incorrect results. In
+ future releases, other operations that create binaries (such as
+ <c>list_to_binary/1</c>) will probably also enforce the same
+ limit.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Total amount of data allocated by an Erlang node</cell>
+ <cell>The Erlang runtime system can use the complete 32-bit
+ (or 64-bit) address space, but the operating system often
+ limits a single process to use less than that.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Length of a node name</cell>
+ <cell>An Erlang node name has the form host@shortname or
+ host@longname. The node name is used as an atom within
+ the system, so the maximum size of 255 holds also for the
+ node name.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell><marker id="ports"></marker>Open ports</cell>
+ <cell>The maximum number of simultaneously open Erlang ports is
+ often by default 16,384. This limit can be configured at startup.
+ For more information, see the
+ <seealso marker="erts:erl#max_ports"><c>+Q</c></seealso>
+ command-line flag in the
+ <seealso marker="erts:erl"><c>erl(1)</c></seealso> manual page
+ in <c>erts</c>.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell><marker id="files_sockets"></marker>Open files and
+ sockets</cell>
+ <cell>The maximum number of simultaneously open files and
+ sockets depends on
+ <seealso marker="#ports">the maximum number of Erlang ports</seealso>
+ available, as well as on operating system-specific settings
+ and limits.</cell>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <cell>Number of arguments to a function or fun</cell>
+ <cell>255</cell>
+ </row>
+ <tcaption>System Limits</tcaption>
+ </table>
</section>
</chapter>