How we reduced the size of our Agent Go binaries by up to 77%

Over the years, the Datadog Agent's artifact size increased significantly, creating challenges for size-sensitive contexts, but a concerted effort to optimize its Go binaries has resulted in a remarkable size reduction without sacrificing features. By systematically auditing dependencies, refactoring code, and leveraging linker optimizations, Datadog managed to reduce the size of its Go binaries by up to 77%, bringing them back to their sizes from five years ago. These efforts involved understanding the Go compiler's handling of dependencies, utilizing tools like goda and go-size-analyzer to visualize and manage binary sizes, and eliminating unnecessary dependencies. Additionally, method dead code elimination and strategic use of build tags played crucial roles in achieving these size reductions. The optimization efforts not only improved performance and reduced resource usage for Datadog's users but also contributed enhancements back to the Go community, benefiting projects like Kubernetes. This optimization journey showcases the importance of continuous improvement and collaboration in software engineering.