altsem / altsem/gitu

File-watcher listening on gitignored files on Linux

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bug
Dominant language
Rust
Stars
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Forks
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PR merge metrics
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Description

Originally posted by @altsem in https://github.com/altsem/gitu/issues/437#issuecomment-3417924320

The file-watcher utilizes inotify on Linux, using the "notify" crate.
Afaik, this implementation needs to traverse the entire file tree and register a listener on each file.
Then whenever a change is detected, it passes through the filter we've written to check whether it should be ignored or not.

The problem is that just registering these listeners on each file takes a significant amount of time.

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by examining the file-watcher's use of the notify crate and Linux inotify traversal. Investigate how gitignored paths are filtered and measure the cost of registering listeners across the file tree. Done should address the listener-registration delay for ignored files without regressing file-watching behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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