Garbage Collection Between V8, cppgc (Oilpan), and Native Runtimes

Node Congress

Node Congress 2026

Mert Can Altin

JS Nation

JSNation 2026

<p>Modern JavaScript runtimes don’t only manage JavaScript objects — they also need to safely and efficiently garbage collect complex native objects written in C++ and Rust. This talk explores how V8’s cppgc (Oilpan) is used in Node.js, Deno, and Cloudflare Workers, comparing shim-based approaches with direct cppgc integration and explaining the performance and lifecycle trade-offs behind each design.</p>