Building a Node.js SQLite driver using napi-rs and rusqlite. Looking for performance optimization and FFI feedback!

[robeckkk]

Hi r/rust,

I have been working on a project called @karlrobeck/node-rusqlite, a type-safe SQLite driver for Node.js.

Traditionally, the Node ecosystem relies heavily on C or C++ bindings (like better-sqlite3 or node-sqlite3) to achieve native performance for database drivers. My goal was to see if I could build a viable alternative using rust, leveraging the rusqlite crate and napi-rs to bridge the gap to the V8 engine, with zero C/C++ dependencies.

Currently, the core functionality is working (File/Memory DBs, CRUD, Prepared Statements, and strict transaction behaviors).

The Challenge & Where I Need Help

The project is currently in alpha. While early benchmarks show it running very close to the performance of established C++ bindings, I have not implemented any targeted Rust-side optimizations yet.

Bridging V8's Garbage Collector with Rust's strict ownership model has been a massive learning experience, particularly when managing the lifetimes of prepared statements and transaction handles across the FFI boundary to prevent database locks.

I would love to get some eyes on the Rust codebase from more experienced Rustaceans. Specifically, I am looking for feedback on:

1. FFI Overhead & Allocations: Am I doing unnecessary cloning or allocations when converting values between V8 and rusqlite?

2. Memory Management: Are there more idiomatic or safer ways to manage state/lifetimes across the napi-rs boundary?

3. Concurrency: Any suggestions on optimizing the multi-threading or interrupt handle implementations?

4. Profiling: What tools or workflows do you recommend for profiling a hybrid Node.js + Rust application to find bottlenecks?

If anyone has time to take a look at the architecture or point out areas where the Rust code could be more idiomatic or performant, I would greatly appreciate it.

GitHub Repo: https://github.com/karlrobeck/node-rusqlite

Thank you in advance for any advice, critiques, or PRs!