Subject: [PATCH v2] checkout: eliminate unnecessary merge for trivial checkout

From: Ben Peart <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2016 15:25:20 -0400

Teach git to avoid unnecessary merge during trivial checkout.  When
running 'git checkout -b foo' git follows a common code path through
the expensive merge_working_tree even when it is unnecessary.  As a
result, 95% of the time is spent in merge_working_tree doing the 2-way
merge between the new and old commit trees that is unneeded.

The time breakdown is as follows:

    merge_working_tree <-- 95%
        unpack_trees <-- 80%
            traverse_trees <-- 50%
            cache_tree_update <-- 17%
            mark_new_skip_worktree <-- 10%

With a large repo, this cost is pronounced.  Using "git checkout -b r"
to create and switch to a new branch costs 166 seconds (all times worst
case with a cold file system cache).

git.c:406               trace: built-in: git 'checkout' '-b' 'r'
read-cache.c:1667       performance: 17.442926555 s: read_index_from
name-hash.c:128         performance: 2.912145231 s: lazy_init_name_hash
read-cache.c:2208       performance: 4.387713335 s: write_locked_index
trace.c:420             performance: 166.458921289 s: git command:
                                        'c:\Users\benpeart\bin\git.exe' 'checkout' '-b' 'r'
Switched to a new branch 'r'

By adding a test to skip the unnecessary call to merge_working_tree in
this case reduces the cost to 16 seconds.

git.c:406               trace: built-in: git 'checkout' '-b' 's'
read-cache.c:1667       performance: 16.100742476 s: read_index_from
trace.c:420             performance: 16.461547867 s: git command: 'c:\Users\benpeart\bin\git.exe' 'checkout' '-b' 's'
Switched to a new branch 's'

Signed-off-by: Ben Peart <[email-masked]>
---
 builtin/checkout.c | 99 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 95 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index 8672d07..4396cb3 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ struct checkout_opts {
 	int ignore_skipworktree;
 	int ignore_other_worktrees;
 	int show_progress;
+	/*
+	 * If new checkout options are added, needs_working_tree_merge
+	 * should be updated accordingly.
+	 */
 
 	const char *new_branch;
 	const char *new_branch_force;
@@ -802,6 +806,87 @@ static void orphaned_commit_warning(struct commit *old, struct commit *new)
 	free(refs.objects);
 }
 
+static int needs_working_tree_merge(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
+	const struct branch_info *old,
+	const struct branch_info *new)
+{
+	/*
+	 * We must do the merge if we are actually moving to a new
+	 * commit tree.
+	 */
+	if (!old->commit || !new->commit ||
+		oidcmp(&old->commit->tree->object.oid, &new->commit->tree->object.oid))
+		return 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * opts->patch_mode cannot be used with switching branches so is
+	 * not tested here
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * opts->quiet only impacts output so doesn't require a merge
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * Honor the explicit request for a three-way merge or to throw away
+	 * local changes
+	 */
+	if (opts->merge || opts->force)
+		return 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * Checking out the requested commit may require updating the working
+	 * directory and index, let the merge handle it.
+	 */
+	if (opts->force_detach)
+		return 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * opts->writeout_stage cannot be used with switching branches so is
+	 * not tested here
+	 */
+
+	 /*
+	  * Honor the explicit ignore requests
+	  */
+	if (!opts->overwrite_ignore || opts->ignore_skipworktree
+		|| opts->ignore_other_worktrees)
+		return 1;
+
+	 /*
+	  * opts->show_progress only impacts output so doesn't require a merge
+	  */
+
+	 /*
+	 * If we're not creating a new branch, by definition we're changing
+	 * the existing one so need to do the merge
+	 */
+	if (!opts->new_branch)
+		return 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * new_branch_force is defined to "create/reset and checkout a branch"
+	 * so needs to go through the merge to do the reset
+	 */
+	if (opts->new_branch_force)
+		return 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * A new orphaned branch requrires the index and the working tree to be
+	 * adjusted to <start_point>
+	 */
+	if (opts->new_orphan_branch)
+		return 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * Remaining variables are not checkout options but used to track state
+	 * that doesn't trigger the need for a merge.
+	 */
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+
 static int switch_branches(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 			   struct branch_info *new)
 {
@@ -827,10 +912,16 @@ static int switch_branches(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 		parse_commit_or_die(new->commit);
 	}
 
-	ret = merge_working_tree(opts, &old, new, &writeout_error);
-	if (ret) {
-		free(path_to_free);
-		return ret;
+	/*
+	 * Optimize the performance of "git checkout foo" by skipping the call
+	 * to merge_working_tree where possible.
+	 */
+	if (needs_working_tree_merge(opts, &old, new)) {
+		ret = merge_working_tree(opts, &old, new, &writeout_error);
+		if (ret) {
+			free(path_to_free);
+			return ret;
+		}
 	}
 
 	if (!opts->quiet && !old.path && old.commit && new->commit != old.commit)
-- 
2.10.0.windows.1