Re:Ask HN: Why serialize documents to disk instead of memory...
by mac3n on Tuesday September 15, 2026 @08:41PM
(#49720753)
Be careful!
I hear the old Microsoft Word save files used memory dumps, which became an undocumented nightmare of a file format.
You need total control over memory layout of the saved runtime state. No hidden fields. No pointers either - you want to be able to reload at another address. Sooner or later, you might want to add some state, and you'd need a place to put it.
That said, I have used mmap something like this, mostly so state (data) could be paged in on demand.
I hear the old Microsoft Word save files used memory dumps, which became an undocumented nightmare of a file format.
You need total control over memory layout of the saved runtime state. No hidden fields. No pointers either - you want to be able to reload at another address. Sooner or later, you might want to add some state, and you'd need a place to put it.
That said, I have used mmap something like this, mostly so state (data) could be paged in on demand.