Chromium Blog: Smaller is Faster (and Safer Too)

Chromium Blog

News and developments from the open source browser project

Smaller is Faster (and Safer Too)

Mittwoch, 15. Juli 2009

We have just started using a new compression algorithm called Courgette to make Google Chrome updates small.
We have built Google Chrome to address multiple factors that affect browser security. One of the pillars of our approach is to keep the software up to date, so we push out updates to Google Chrome fairly regularly. On the stable channel these are mainly security bug fixes, but the updates are more adventurous and numerous on developer channel.
It is an anathema to us to push out a whole new 10MB update to give you a ten line security fix. We want smaller updates because it narrows the window of vulnerability. If the update is a tenth of the size, we can push ten times as many per unit of bandwidth. We have enough users that this means more users will be protected earlier. A secondary benefit is that a smaller update will work better for users who don't have great connectivity.
Rather then push put a whole new 10MB update, we send out a diff that takes the previous version of Google Chrome and generates the new version. We tried several binary diff algorithms and have been using bsdiff up until now. We are big fans of bsdiff - it is small and worked better than anything else we tried.
But bsdiff was still producing diffs that were bigger than we felt were necessary. So we wrote a new diff algorithm that knows more about the kind of data we are pushing - large files containing compiled executables. Here are the sizes for the recent 190.1->190.4 update on the developer channel:

Full update: 10,385,920 bytes
bsdiff update: 704,512 bytes
Courgette update: 78,848 bytes

The small size in combination with Google Chrome's silent update means we can update as often as necessary to keep users safe.
More information on how Courgette works can be found here.
Posted by Stephen Adams, Software Engineer

Google

Labels

$200K 1
10th birthday 4
abusive ads 1
abusive notifications 2
accessibility 3
ad blockers 1
ad blocking 2
advanced capabilities 1
android 2
anti abuse 1
anti-deception 1
background periodic sync 1
badging 1
benchmarks 1
beta 83
better ads standards 1
billing 1
birthday 4
blink 2
browser 2
browser interoperability 1
bundles 1
capabilities 6
capable web 1
cds 1
cds18 2
cds2018 1
chrome 35
chrome 81 1
chrome 83 2
chrome 84 2
chrome ads 1
chrome apps 5
Chrome dev 1
chrome dev summit 1
chrome dev summit 2018 1
chrome dev summit 2019 1
chrome developer 1
Chrome Developer Center 1
chrome developer summit 1
chrome devtools 1
Chrome extension 1
chrome extensions 3
Chrome Frame 1
Chrome lite 1
Chrome on Android 2
chrome on ios 1
Chrome on Mac 1
Chrome OS 1
chrome privacy 4
chrome releases 1
chrome security 10
chrome web store 32
chromedevtools 1
chromeframe 3
chromeos 4
chromeos.dev 1
chromium 9
cloud print 1
coalition 1
coalition for better ads 1
contact picker 1
content indexing 1
cookies 1
core web vitals 2
csrf 1
css 1
cumulative layout shift 1
custom tabs 1
dart 8
dashboard 1
Data Saver 3
Data saver desktop extension 1
day 2 1
deceptive installation 1
declarative net request api 1
design 2
developer dashboard 1
Developer Program Policy 2
developer website 1
devtools 13
digital event 1
discoverability 1
DNS-over-HTTPS 4
DoH 4
emoji 1
emscriptem 1
enterprise 1
extensions 27
Fast badging 1
faster web 1
features 1
feedback 2
field data 1
first input delay 1
Follow 1
fonts 1
form controls 1
frameworks 1
fugu 2
fund 1
funding 1
gdd 1
google earth 1
google event 1
google io 2019 1
google web developer 1
googlechrome 12
harmful ads 1
html5 11
HTTP/3 1
HTTPS 4
iframes 1
images 1
incognito 1
insecure forms 1
intent to explain 1
ios 1
ios Chrome 1
issue tracker 3
jank 1
javascript 5
lab data 1
labelling 1
largest contentful paint 1
launch 1
lazy-loading 1
lighthouse 2
linux 2
Lite Mode 2
Lite pages 1
loading interventions 1
loading optimizations 1
lock icon 1
long-tail 1
mac 1
manifest v3 2
metrics 2
microsoft edge 1
mixed forms 1
mobile 2
na 1
native client 8
native file system 1
New Features 5
notifications 1
octane 1
open web 4
origin trials 2
pagespeed insights 1
pagespeedinsights 1
passwords 1
payment handler 1
payment request 1
payments 2
performance 20
performance tools 1
permission UI 1
permissions 1
play store 1
portals 3
prefetching 1
privacy 2
privacy sandbox 4
private prefetch proxy 1
profile guided optimization 1
progressive web apps 2
Project Strobe 1
protection 1
pwa 1
QUIC 1
quieter permissions 1
releases 3
removals 1
rlz 1
root program 1
safe browsing 2
Secure DNS 2
security 36
site isolation 1
slow loading 1
sms receiver 1
spam policy 1
spdy 2
spectre 1
speed 4
ssl 2
store listing 1
strobe 2
subscription pages 1
suspicious site reporter extension 1
TCP 1
the fast and the curious 23
TLS 1
tools 1
tracing 1
transparency 1
trusted web activities 1
twa 2
user agent string 1
user data policy 1
v8 6
video 2
wasm 1
web 1
web apps 1
web assembly 2
web developers 1
web intents 1
web packaging 1
web payments 1
web platform 1
web request api 1
web vitals 1
web.dev 1
web.dev live 1
webapi 1
webassembly 1
webaudio 3
webgl 7
webkit 5
WebM 1
webmaster 1
webp 5
webrtc 6
websockets 5
webtiming 1
writable-files 1
yerba beuna center for the arts 1

Archive

2024
- Dez.
- Aug.
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.

2023
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- Feb.

2022
- Dez.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2021
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2020
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2019
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2018
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2017
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2016
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2015
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2014
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2013
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2012
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2011
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2010
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2009
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Sept.
- Aug.
- Juli
- Juni
- Mai
- Apr.
- März
- Feb.
- Jan.

2008
- Dez.
- Nov.
- Okt.
- Sept.

Feed

Give us feedback in our Product Forums.

Google
Privacy
Terms