sourcemin

Sourcemin is a software engineering approach and accompanying tooling designed to minimize the size of a project's source code and dependencies while preserving functional behavior. The aim is to produce a lean, reproducible source set that can be built to the same artifacts as the full project, improving distribution efficiency and reducing maintenance burden.

Its approach combines static analysis, dependency graph construction, and selective code extraction. A minimization engine identifies reachable code, tests, and resources, prunes unused files, and can inline small helpers or deduplicate identical snippets. A verification phase executes test suites to check that the minimized source maintains functional equivalence.

Typical workflow includes scanning the repository to build a dependency graph, performing a minimization pass, auditing for potential side effects, and running regression tests. Output artifacts consist of a minimized source tree, a change manifest, and validation results. The tooling is designed to integrate with existing build systems and version control workflows.

Applications and benefits: Sourcemin is used to reduce build times and storage requirements in embedded systems, containers, and distributed environments with limited bandwidth. It can also shrink the attack surface by limiting the amount of source code a consumer must review, aiding security and compliance efforts.

Limitations: Achieving safe minimization depends on language features and test coverage. Aggressive pruning may remove needed metadata or alter nonfunctional behavior if tests are incomplete. The process adds tooling complexity and may require ongoing maintenance to keep up with project changes.

See also: Minification; Dead code elimination; Dependency management; Build optimization.