In the modern development life cycle, the toolchain plays a crucial role in shaping how we build, test, and deploy applications. A toolchain consists of a range of applications and services that work together to provide the necessary utilities for custom tool creation. These can include code generators for building application frameworks, integrated development environments (IDEs), editors, testing tools, and continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines. Developers often become deeply familiar with a particular set of tools, using them consistently in their workflows. While this focus on a specific toolset can improve efficiency, it can also mean overlooking new tools that could enhance productivity or improve code quality.
Discovering new tools can be a challenge, especially when we are entrenched in a specific ecosystem. A great resource for staying updated with the latest tools and techniques is the Microsoft Developer Blogs (DevBlogs), which offers insights into everything from language updates to Visual Studio features and Azure tools. By following the RSS feed, developers can stay in the loop with important announcements and best practices. One such recent post highlighted the public release of SizeBench, a tool that had previously been used internally at Microsoft but is now available for wider use.
SizeBench is a perfect example of how Microsoft’s internal needs often lead to the creation of innovative tools that benefit the wider developer community. Initially developed by the Windows Phone team, SizeBench helps developers understand and manage the size of their application binaries. It allows for a deeper analysis of how the application’s size is determined and provides insight into areas where changes in the source code could lead to significant reductions in size. This tool has since expanded to be used across the company for managing C and C++ applications, offering developers a valuable resource for optimizing application size.
Even though storage space has become more abundant in modern computing environments, application size remains an important consideration for several reasons. One key factor is bandwidth—downloading large applications or updates can be a significant issue for users with slower internet connections. By optimizing the size of binaries, developers can ensure faster downloads and reduce the likelihood of missed updates, which is crucial for delivering security patches. Additionally, as cloud environments and serverless computing become more prevalent, the importance of application size extends to how quickly data can be transferred over networks, impacting everything from container loads to virtual machine startups. In these contexts, keeping binaries lean is essential for maintaining efficient and fast operations