在SpiderMonkey的代码中经常能够看到JSAtom这一个数据结构。它并不是定义在 js/src/jsatom.h 中，而是在js/src/vm/String.h中。SpiderMonkey为了能够快速的实现字符串的复制、比较操作，使用了一系列的C++对象。具体实现在String.h的注释中有描述：

/* * JavaScript strings * * Conceptually, a JS string is just an array of chars and a length. This array * of chars may or may not be null-terminated and, if it is, the null character * is not included in the length. * * To improve performance of common operations, the following optimizations are * made which affect the engine’s representation of strings: * * - The plain vanilla representation is a “flat” string which consists of a * string header in the GC heap and a malloc’d null terminated char array. * * - To avoid copying a substring of an existing “base” string , a “dependent” * string (JSDependentString) can be created which points into the base * string’s char array. * * - To avoid O(n^2) char buffer copying, a “rope” node (JSRope) can be created * to represent a delayed string concatenation. Concatenation (called * flattening) is performed if and when a linear char array is requested. In * general, ropes form a binary dag whose internal nodes are JSRope string * headers with no associated char array and whose leaf nodes are either flat * or dependent strings. * * - To avoid copying the left-hand side when flattening, the left-hand side’s * buffer may be grown to make space for a copy of the right-hand side (see * comment in JSString::flatten). This optimization requires that there are * no external pointers into the char array. We conservatively maintain this * property via a flat string’s “extensible” property. * * - To avoid allocating small char arrays, short strings can be stored inline * in the string header (JSInlineString). To increase the max size of such * inline strings, extra-large string headers can be used (JSShortString). * * - To avoid comparing O(n) string equality comparison, strings can be * canonicalized to “atoms” (JSAtom) such that there is a single atom with a * given (length,chars). * * - To avoid copying all strings created through the JSAPI, an “external” * string (JSExternalString) can be created whose chars are managed by the * JSAPI client. * * Although all strings share the same basic memory layout, we can conceptually * arrange them into a hierarchy of operations/invariants and represent this * hierarchy in C++ with classes: * * C++ type operations+fields / invariants+properties * ========================== ========================================= * JSString (abstract) getCharsZ, getChars, length / - * |
* | JSRope leftChild, rightChild / - * | * JSLinearString (abstract) chars / might be null-terminated * |
* | JSDependentString base / - * | * JSFlatString - / null terminated * | | * | +– JSStableString - / may have external pointers into char array * | | * | +– JSExternalString - / char array memory managed by embedding * | | * | +– JSExtensibleString capacity / no external pointers into char array * | | * | +– JSUndependedString original dependent base / - * | | * | +– JSInlineString - / chars stored in header * |
* | JSShortString - / header is fat * | * JSAtom - / string equality === pointer equality * | * js::PropertyName - / chars don’t contain an index (uint32_t) * * Classes marked with (abstract) above are not literally C++ Abstract Base * Classes (since there are no virtual functions, pure or not, in this * hierarchy), but have the same meaning: there are no strings with this type as * its most-derived type. * * Technically, there are three additional most-derived types that satisfy the * invariants of more than one of the abovementioned most-derived types: * - InlineAtom = JSInlineString + JSAtom (atom with inline chars) * - ShortAtom = JSShortString + JSAtom (atom with (more) inline chars) * - StableAtom = JSStableString + JSAtom (atom with out-of-line chars) * * Derived string types can be queried from ancestor types via isX() and * retrieved with asX() debug-only-checked casts. * * The ensureX() operations mutate ‘this’ in place to effectively the type to be * at least X (e.g., ensureLinear will change a JSRope to be a JSFlatString). */