@sylph/zen: Extreme Minimalism, Extreme Speed 🚀

Embrace simplicity. Achieve speed. Meet Zen – the state management library designed around extreme minimalism for unparalleled performance and efficiency.

Zen delivers extreme speed because of its minimalist core, consistently outperforming popular alternatives like Zustand, Jotai, Nanostores, Valtio, and Effector in crucial benchmarks. All this, while maintaining a tiny footprint (1.45 kB full library) and providing essential features through a clean, intuitive API.

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Why Zen? 🤔

Modern web applications demand state management that is fast, lightweight, and easy to reason about. Existing solutions often introduce complexity and overhead, forcing a trade-off: gain features but sacrifice performance and simplicity, or stay small but lack essential capabilities.

Zen rejects this compromise. Our philosophy: extreme speed through extreme minimalism.

By focusing relentlessly on a highly optimized, simple core and only the essential features, Zen avoids unnecessary abstractions and overhead. We meticulously optimized every function, achieving unparalleled speed because of this focused, minimalist design.

Zen solves:

• Performance Bottlenecks: Drastically reduces overhead for state updates and reads via its minimal core.
• Bundle Bloat: Keeps your application lean and fast-loading with its tiny size.
• Complexity Overload: Provides a straightforward, predictable API that's easy to learn and use.
• Over-Engineering: Delivers only the essential tools you need, cutting out unnecessary complexity.

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Key Features ✨

• 🤏 Extreme Minimalism: Simple, intuitive API focused on the fundamentals.
• 🚀 Extreme Performance: Hyper-optimized core delivers benchmark-leading speed (see below).
• ⚛️ Core Primitives: atom for basic state, computed for derived values.
• 🗺️ Object Helpers: map for shallow object state, deepMap for nested objects/arrays with efficient path updates/listeners.
• ⚡ Async Handling: task atom for managing async operation states (loading, error, data).
• 👂 Lifecycle Events: Optional hooks (onMount, onStart, onStop, onSet, onNotify) for fine-grained control when needed.
• 🎯 Granular Subscriptions: Efficiently listen to specific keys in map or deep paths in deepMap.
• 📏 Tiny Size: Just 1.45 kB (brotli + gzip) for the full library.

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Installation 📦

npm install @sylph/zen
# or
yarn add @sylph/zen
# or
pnpm add @sylph/zen

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Core Usage 🧑‍💻

atom

The fundamental building block for reactive state.

import { atom, get, set, subscribe } from '@sylph/zen';

const counter = atom(0);

const unsubscribe = subscribe(counter, (value, oldValue) => {
  console.log(`Counter changed from ${oldValue} to ${value}`);
});
// Output: Counter changed from undefined to 0 (Initial call)

console.log(get(counter)); // Output: 0

set(counter, 1); // Output: Counter changed from 0 to 1
console.log(get(counter)); // Output: 1

set(counter, 1); // No output, value didn't change

unsubscribe();

set(counter, 2); // No output, unsubscribed

computed

Create derived state based on one or more atoms.

import { atom, computed, get, set, subscribe } from '@sylph/zen';

const count = atom(10);
const message = atom(' apples');

// Computed value based on count
const double = computed([count], (value) => value * 2);

// Computed value based on multiple atoms
const fullMessage = computed([count, message], (num, msg) => `${num}${msg}`);

const unsubDouble = subscribe(double, value => console.log('Double:', value));
// Output: Double: 20 (Initial call)

const unsubMsg = subscribe(fullMessage, value => console.log('Message:', value));
// Output: Message: 10 apples (Initial call)

console.log(get(double)); // Output: 20
console.log(get(fullMessage)); // Output: 10 apples

set(count, 15);
// Output: Double: 30
// Output: Message: 15 apples

set(message, ' oranges');
// Output: Message: 15 oranges
// (Double listener not called as 'double' didn't change)

unsubDouble();
unsubMsg();

map

Optimized for object state where you often update/listen to individual keys.

import { map, get, subscribe, setMapKey, setMapValue, listenMapKeys } from '@sylph/zen';

const profile = map({ name: 'John', age: 30, city: 'New York' });

const unsub = subscribe(profile, value => console.log('Profile updated:', value));
// Output: Profile updated: { name: 'John', age: 30, city: 'New York' } (Initial call)

// Listen to specific key changes
const unsubAge = listenMapKeys(profile, ['age'], (value, key, fullObject) => {
  console.log(`Key '${key}' changed to: ${value}`);
});

setMapKey(profile, 'age', 31);
// Output: Key 'age' changed to: 31
// Output: Profile updated: { name: 'John', age: 31, city: 'New York' }

setMapKey(profile, 'name', 'Jane');
// Output: Profile updated: { name: 'Jane', age: 31, city: 'New York' }
// (Age listener not called)

setMapValue(profile, { name: 'Peter', age: 40, city: 'London' }); // Update whole object
// Output: Key 'age' changed to: 40
// Output: Profile updated: { name: 'Peter', age: 40, city: 'London' }

unsub();
unsubAge();

deepMap

Efficiently manage and subscribe to changes within nested objects/arrays.

import { deepMap, get, subscribe, setDeepMapPath, setDeepMapValue, listenDeepMapPaths } from '@sylph/zen';

const settings = deepMap({
  user: { name: 'Anon', preferences: { theme: 'light', notifications: true } },
  data: [10, 20, 30]
});

const unsub = subscribe(settings, value => console.log('Settings updated:', value));
// Output: Settings updated: { user: { name: 'Anon', preferences: { theme: 'light', notifications: true } }, data: [ 10, 20, 30 ] } (Initial call)

// Listen to a deep path
const unsubTheme = listenDeepMapPaths(settings, [['user', 'preferences', 'theme']], (value, path, fullObject) => {
  // Note: path received might be string or array depending on how it was registered/changed
  console.log(`Path '${Array.isArray(path) ? path.join('.') : path}' changed to: ${value}`);
});

// Listen to an array element path
const unsubData = listenDeepMapPaths(settings, [['data', 1]], (value, path, fullObject) => {
 console.log(`Path 'data[1]' changed to: ${value}`);
});

// Update deep value using string path
setDeepMapPath(settings, 'user.preferences.theme', 'dark');
// Output: Path 'user.preferences.theme' changed to: dark
// Output: Settings updated: { user: {..., preferences: { theme: 'dark', ... }}, ... }

// Update deep value using array path
setDeepMapPath(settings, ['data', 1], 25);
// Output: Path 'data[1]' changed to: 25
// Output: Settings updated: { ..., data: [10, 25, 30] }

// Update unrelated path
setDeepMapPath(settings, 'user.name', 'Alice');
// Output: Settings updated: { user: { name: 'Alice', ...}, ... }
// (Theme and data listeners not called)

unsub();
unsubTheme();
unsubData();

task

Handle async operations gracefully.

import { task, computed, get, subscribe, runTask, getTaskState } from '@sylph/zen';

const fetchData = async (userId: number): Promise<{ id: number; name: string }> => {
  // Simulate API call
  await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 50));
  if (userId === 0) throw new Error('Invalid ID');
  return { id: userId, name: `User ${userId}` };
};

const userTask = task(fetchData);

// Use core 'get' to read the task state atom
const userStatus = computed([userTask], (state) => {
  if (state.loading) return 'Loading user...';
  if (state.error) return `Error: ${state.error.message}`;
  if (state.data) return `User Found: ${state.data.name} (ID: ${state.data.id})`;
  return 'Enter a user ID';
});

// Use core 'subscribe'
subscribe(userStatus, status => console.log(status));
// Output: Enter a user ID (Initial call)

// Run the task using runTask
runTask(userTask, 123)
  .then(data => console.log('Success:', data))
  .catch(err => console.error('Caught Error:', err));

// Output: Loading user...
// (after ~50ms)
// Output: User Found: User 123 (ID: 123)
// Output: Success: { id: 123, name: 'User 123' }

// Run with invalid ID
runTask(userTask, 0)
  .catch(err => console.error('Caught Error:', err.message));

// Output: Loading user...
// (after ~50ms)
// Output: Error: Invalid ID
// Output: Caught Error: Invalid ID

// You can also get the current state directly
console.log(getTaskState(userTask)); // Output: { loading: false, error: Error: Invalid ID, data: undefined }

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Advanced Usage 🧐

Lifecycle Events

Listen to internal atom events using onStart, onStop, onSet, onNotify, onMount.

import { atom, set, subscribe, onStart, onStop, onSet, onNotify } from '@sylph/zen';

const myAtom = atom(0);

const unsubStart = onStart(myAtom, () => console.log('First listener subscribed!'));
const unsubStop = onStop(myAtom, () => console.log('Last listener unsubscribed!'));
const unsubSet = onSet(myAtom, (newValue) => console.log(`Setting value to ${newValue}...`)); // Only called outside batch
const unsubNotify = onNotify(myAtom, (newValue) => console.log(`Notified with value ${newValue}!`));

const sub1 = subscribe(myAtom, () => {});
// Output: First listener subscribed!
// Output: Notified with value 0! (Initial subscribe calls listener, which triggers notify)

set(myAtom, 1);
// Output: Setting value to 1...
// Output: Notified with value 1!

sub1(); // Output: Last listener unsubscribed!

unsubStart();
unsubStop();
unsubSet();
unsubNotify();

Key/Path Listening

Efficiently subscribe to changes in specific parts of map or deepMap atoms using listenMapKeys and listenDeepMapPaths. See map and deepMap examples above.

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Performance: Extreme Speed via Minimalism 🚀

Zen achieves extreme speed by focusing on a minimal, hyper-optimized core. Benchmarks show significant advantages over popular libraries (ops/sec, higher is better):

(Results from 2025-04-16, commit 1d82136, may vary slightly)

Core Atom Operations:

Benchmark	Zen (ops/s)	Nanostores	Zustand (Vanilla)	Jotai	Valtio (Vanilla)	Effector	Winner
Atom Creation	~18.5M	~2.6M	~16.7M	~10.7M	~0.6M	~24.7k	🏆 Zen
Atom Get	~16.9M	~12.7M	~22.4M	~17.0M	~18.8M	~22.9M	Effector
Atom Set (No Listeners)	~13.7M	~10.5M	~9.6M	~1.6M	~3.4M	~3.2M	🏆 Zen
Subscribe/Unsubscribe	~1.9M	~1.8M	~7.0M	~0.12M	~0.3M	~26.0k	Zustand

Computed Operations (1 Dependency):

Benchmark	Zen (ops/s)	Nanostores	Zustand (Selector)	Jotai (Hook)	Valtio (Getter)	Effector (Derived)	Winner
Computed Creation	~22.6M	~0.4M	-	~13.7M	-	~6.7k	🏆 Zen
Computed Get	~19.5M	~2.3M	~20.4M	~19.0M	~17.8M	~19.7M	Zustand
Computed Update Prop.	~8.0M	~8.9M	~8.1M	~0.2M	~2.1M	~0.6M	Nanostores

Map/DeepMap Operations:

Benchmark	Zen (ops/s)	Nanostores	Winner
Map Creation	~13.6M	~1.4M	🏆 Zen
Map Get	~11.3M	~14.8M	Nanostores
Map Set Key	~7.5M	~11.1M	Nanostores
DeepMap Creation	~13.7M	~2.5M	🏆 Zen
DeepMap setPath (Shallow)	~2.8M	~1.0M	🏆 Zen
DeepMap setPath (1 Lvl)	~2.0M	~0.8M	🏆 Zen
DeepMap setPath (2 Lvl)	~2.1M	~0.7M	🏆 Zen
DeepMap setPath (Array)	~3.9M	~0.5M	🏆 Zen
DeepMap setPath (Create)	~1.8M	~0.4M	🏆 Zen

Key Takeaways:

• Zen's minimalist design leads to dominant performance in Atom Creation, Atom Set, Computed Creation, and all DeepMap operations.
• Highly competitive in Atom Get, Subscribe/Unsubscribe, Computed Get, and Computed Update.
• Map operations (Get, Set Key) are areas where Nanostores currently holds an edge.

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Size Comparison 🤏

Zen's minimalist philosophy results in an incredibly small bundle size.

Library	Size (Brotli + Gzip)
Jotai (atom)	170 B
Nanostores (atom)	265 B
Zustand (core)	461 B
Zen (atom only)	786 B
Valtio	903 B
Zen (full)	1.45 kB
Effector	5.27 kB
Redux Toolkit	6.99 kB

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Current Limitations & Issues

• TypeScript Guidelines: We currently cannot automatically verify against specific internal TypeScript style guidelines due to a temporary issue fetching the rules file (guidelines/typescript/style_quality.md from sylphlab/Playbook resulted in a 'Not Found' error). We are proceeding with best practices in the meantime.
• Map Performance: Nanostores shows better performance for Map Get and Map Set Key operations in current benchmarks. Further investigation is optional.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

MIT