(copied my issue from nodejs group:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/nodejs/adowj-PAJfo)
I have a huge JSON file, right, it's 78MB.
When I just require it from node-cli it takes 450MB memory footprint. I can
understand that is bloated 6x times because the JSON file is just a string
in the storage, but it needs spaces for indexing, making some padding,
optimization, linking and whatever else when it comes on memory.
But the other hand, when I add some strings like "module.exports=" at the
top of the JSON file and require it as a normal js file, it takes only
200MB. I thought requiring as JSON would be faster and smaller than as JS.
Because there are no seeking time for code-optimization and no extra
process at the Node.js side.
What's different between two and why?