feat(docs): document code size management tools for Dart

Author: yjbanov

TOOLS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Developer Tools for Angular 2
+
+- JavaScript (TBD)
+- [Dart](TOOLS_DART.md)

TOOLS_DART.md

@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+# Developer Tools for Dart
+
+Here you will find a collection of tools and tips for keeping your application
+perform well and contain fewer bugs.
+
+## Code size
+
+Code needs to be downloaded, parsed and executed. Too much code could lead to
+slow application start-up time, especially on slow networks and low-end devices.
+The tools below will help you identify contributors to code size and keep them
+in check.
+
+### Finding contributors to code size
+
+#### --dump-info
+
+`dart2js` has an option `--dump-info` that outputs information about what
+happened during compilation. Enable this option in your transformer options
+like this:
+
+```yaml
+transformers:
+...
+- $dart2js:
+    commandLineOptions:
+    - --dump-info
+```
+
+Use the [visualizer](https://github.com/dart-lang/dump-info-visualizer) to
+analyze the output or any of the command-line tools documented
+[here](http://dart-lang.github.io/dart2js_info/doc/api/index.html).
+
+#### ng2soyc.dart
+
+[ng2soyc](https://github.com/angular/ng2soyc.dart) is a utility for analyzing
+code size contributors in Angular 2 applications. It groups code size by
+library. It also assumes your library names follow
+"package.library.sub-library..." convention and gives code size breakdown at
+each level. To reduce noise in the output (for very large apps) it also provides
+an option to hide libraries that are too small, so you can focus on the biggest
+contributors.
+
+#### Use code coverage to find dead code
+
+When running in Dartium (or in Dart VM in general) you can request code
+coverage information from the VM. You can either use
+[observatory](https://www.dartlang.org/tools/observatory/), or download
+the coverage file and use your own tools to inspect it. Lines of code that are
+not covered are top candidates for dead code.
+
+Keep in mind, however, that uncovered code is not sufficient evidence of dead
+code, only necessary evidence. It is perfectly possible that you simply didn't
+exercise your application in a way that triggers the execution of uncovered
+code. A common example is error handling code. Just because your testing never
+encountered an error does not mean the error won't happen in production. You
+therefore do not have to rush and remove all the `catch` blocks.
+
+### Reducing code size
+
+#### Disable reflection
+
+`dart:mirrors` allows discovering program metadata at runtime. However, this
+means that `dart2js` needs to retain that metadata and thus increase the size
+of resulting JS output. In practice, however, it is possible to extract most
+metadata necessary for your metaprogramming tasks statically using a
+transformer and `package:analyzer`, and act on it before compiling to JS.
+
+#### Enable minification
+
+Minification shortens all your `longMethodNames` into 2- or 3-letter long
+symbols. `dart2js` ensures that this kind of renaming is done safely, without
+breaking the functionality of your programs. You can enable it in `pubspec.yaml`
+under `$dart2js` transformer:
+
+```yaml
+transformers:
+...
+- $dart2js:
+    minify: true
+```
+
+#### Manually remove dead code
+
+`dart2js` comes with dead code elimination out-of-the-box. However, it may not
+always be able to tell if a piece of code could be used. Consider the following
+example:
+
+```dart
+/// This function decides which serialization format to use
+void setupSerializers() {
+  if (server.doYouSupportProtocolBuffers()) {
+    useProtobufSerializaers();
+  } else {
+    useJsonSerializaers();
+  }
+}
+```
+
+In this example the application asks the server what kind of serialization
+format it uses and dynamically chooses one or the other. `dart2js` could never
+tell whether the server responds with yes or no and so it must retain both
+kinds of serializers. However, you, as the developer of the application, may
+know in advance that your server supports protocol buffers and so you could
+remove that `if` block entirely and default to protocol buffers.
+
+Code coverage (see above) is a good way to find dead code in your app.
+
+#### Unsafe options
+
+Dart also provides more aggressive optimization options. However, you have to
+be careful when using them and as of today the benefits aren't that clear. If
+your type annotations are inaccurate you may end up with non-Darty runtime
+behavior, including the classic "undefined is not a function" tautology, as
+well as the "keep on truckin'" behavior, e.g. `null + 1 == 1` and
+`{} + [] == 0`.
+
+`--trust-type-annotations` tells `dart2js` to trust that your type annotations
+are correct. So if you have a function `foo(Bar bar)` the compiler can omit the
+check that `bar` is truly `Bar` when calling methods on it.
+
+`--trust-primitives` tells `dart2js` that primitive types, such as numbers and
+booleans are never `null` when performing arithmetic, and that your program
+does not run into range error when operating on lists, letting the compiler
+remove some of the error checking code.
+
+These options are specified in `pubspec.yaml`.
+
+Example:
+
+```yaml
+transformers:
+...
+- $dart2js:
+    commandLineOptions:
+    - --trust-type-annotations
+    - --trust-primitives
+```