# ⚡blazingly fast⚡ Initially, I conducted a series of quick tests, using wrk with simple HTTP servers written in GO and in zig zap. I made sure that all servers only output 17 bytes of HTTP body. Just to get some sort of indication, I also included measurements for python since I used to write my REST APIs in python before creating zig zap. You can check out the scripts I used for the tests in [./wrk](wrk/). ## Why I aimed to enhance the performance of my Python + Flask backends by replacing them with a Zig version. To evaluate the success of this transition, I compared the performance of a static HTTP server implemented in Python and its Zig counterpart, which showed significant improvements. To further assess the Zig server's performance, I compared it with a Go implementation, to compare against a widely used industry-standard. I expected similar performance levels but was pleasantly surprised when Zap outperformed Go by approximately 30% on my test machine. Intrigued by Rust's reputed performance capabilities, I also experimented with a Rust version. The results of this experiment are discussed in the [Flaws](#flaws) section below. ## What So, what are the benchmarks testing? - simple http servers that reply to GET requests with a constant, 17-bytes long response - 4 cores are assigned to the subject under test (the respective server) - 4 cores are assigned to `wrk` - using 4 threads - aiming at 400 concurrent connections ## How I have fully automated the benchmarks and graph generation. To generate the data: ```console $ ./wrk/measure_all.sh ``` To generate the graphs: ```console $ python wrk/graph.py ``` For dependencies, please see the [flake.nix](./flake.nix#L46). ## Flaws The benchmarks have limitations, such as the lack of request latencies. The Rust community has often criticized these benchmarks as biased. However, no such criticisms have come from the Go or Python communities. In response to the Rust community's concerns, we've added three Rust implementations for comparison: - A standard version from [the Rust book](https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/ch20-00-final-project-a-web-server.html). - An "axum" version to highlight Rust's speed. - A refined version of the Rust book version. Originally, the goal was to compare "batteries included" versions, which created a disparity by comparing the optimized zap / facil.io code with basic bundled functionalities. These tests were for personal interest and not meant to be definitive benchmarks. To address this bias, we've added the Rust-axum and Python-sanic benchmarks. For more information, refer to the relevant discussions and pull requests. ## More benchmarks? I often receive requests or PRs to include additional benchmarks, which a lot of times I find to be either ego-driven or a cause for unnecessary disputes. People tend to favor their preferred language or framework. Zig, Rust, C, and C++ are all capable of efficiently creating fast web servers, with different frameworks potentially excelling in certain benchmarks. My main concern was whether Zap, given its current level of abstraction, could compete with standard web servers. This question has been answered, and I see no need for further benchmarks. So far, we have the following benchmark subjects (implementations) which you'll find in the graphs below: - **zig-zap** : ZAP implementation - **go** : GO implementation - **python** : Python implementation - **python-sanic** : Python implementation with sanic framework - **rust-bythebook** : Rust example from the Rust book (not representative) - **rust-bythebook-improved** : Improved version of the by-the-book code (thx @alexpyattaev) - **rust-clean** : A clean, straight-forward Rust implementation (thx @alexpyattaev) - **rust-axum** : Rust implementation using the axum framework (realistic) - **(csharp)** : CSharp implementation (thx @leo-costa) - **cpp-beast** : A C++ implementation using boost::beast (thx @kassane) ## The computer makes the difference After automating the performance benchmarks, I gathered data from three different computers. It's interesting to see the variation in relative numbers. ### The test machine (graphs in the README) ![](./wrk/samples/req_per_sec_graph.png) ![](./wrk/samples/xfer_per_sec_graph.png) ``` ➜ neofetch --stdout rs@ryzen -------- OS: NixOS 23.05.997.ddf4688dc7a (Stoat) x86_64 Host: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. B550-A PRO (MS-7C56) Kernel: 6.3.7 Uptime: 15 days, 11 hours, 13 mins Packages: 2094 (nix-system), 1356 (nix-user), 7 (flatpak) Shell: bash 5.2.15 Resolution: 3840x2160 DE: none+i3 WM: i3 Terminal: tmux CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (12) @ 3.700GHz GPU: AMD ATI Radeon RX 6700/6700 XT/6750 XT / 6800M/6850M XT Memory: 4981MiB / 32028MiB ➜ lscpu Architecture: x86_64 CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit Address sizes: 48 bits physical, 48 bits virtual Byte Order: Little Endian CPU(s): 12 On-line CPU(s) list: 0-11 Vendor ID: AuthenticAMD Model name: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-Core Processor CPU family: 25 Model: 33 Thread(s) per core: 2 Core(s) per socket: 6 Socket(s): 1 Stepping: 0 Frequency boost: enabled CPU(s) scaling MHz: 67% CPU max MHz: 4650.2920 CPU min MHz: 2200.0000 BogoMIPS: 7399.43 Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc rep_good nopl nonstop_tsc cpuid extd_apicid aperfmperf rapl pni pclmulqdq monitor ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 movbe popcnt aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefet ch osvw ibs skinit wdt tce topoext perfctr_core perfctr_nb bpext perfctr_llc mwaitx cpb cat_l3 cdp_l3 hw_pstate ssbd mba ibrs ib pb stibp vmmcall fsgsbase bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid cqm rdt_a rdseed adx smap clflushopt clwb sha_ni xsaveopt xsavec xget bv1 xsaves cqm_llc cqm_occup_llc cqm_mbm_total cqm_mbm_local clzero irperf xsaveerptr rdpru wbnoinvd arat npt lbrv svm_lock nrip _save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold avic v_vmsave_vmload vgif v_spec_ctrl umip pku ospk e vaes vpclmulqdq rdpid overflow_recov succor smca fsrm Virtualization features: Virtualization: AMD-V Caches (sum of all): L1d: 192 KiB (6 instances) L1i: 192 KiB (6 instances) L2: 3 MiB (6 instances) L3: 32 MiB (1 instance) NUMA: NUMA node(s): 1 NUMA node0 CPU(s): 0-11 Vulnerabilities: Itlb multihit: Not affected L1tf: Not affected Mds: Not affected Meltdown: Not affected Mmio stale data: Not affected Retbleed: Not affected Spec store bypass: Mitigation; Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl Spectre v1: Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization Spectre v2: Mitigation; Retpolines, IBPB conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP always-on, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS Not affected Srbds: Not affected Tsx async abort: Not affected ``` ### Workstation at work A beast. Many cores (which we don't use). ![](./wrk/samples/workstation_req_per_sec_graph.png) ![](./wrk/samples/workstation_xfer_per_sec_graph.png) ``` [rene@nixos:~]$ neofetch --stdout rene@nixos ---------- OS: NixOS 23.05.2947.475d5ae2c4cb (Stoat) x86_64 Host: LENOVO 1038 Kernel: 6.1.46 Uptime: 26 mins Packages: 5804 (nix-system), 566 (nix-user) Shell: bash 5.2.15 Terminal: /dev/pts/2 CPU: Intel Xeon Gold 5218 (64) @ 3.900GHz GPU: NVIDIA Quadro P620 GPU: NVIDIA Tesla M40 Memory: 1610MiB / 95247MiB [rene@nixos:~]$ lscpu Architecture: x86_64 CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit Address sizes: 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual Byte Order: Little Endian CPU(s): 64 On-line CPU(s) list: 0-63 Vendor ID: GenuineIntel Model name: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 5218 CPU @ 2.30GHz CPU family: 6 Model: 85 Thread(s) per core: 2 Core(s) per socket: 16 Socket(s): 2 Stepping: 7 CPU(s) scaling MHz: 57% CPU max MHz: 3900,0000 CPU min MHz: 1000,0000 BogoMIPS: 4600,00 Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs b ts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_ deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault epb cat_l3 cdp_l3 invpcid_single intel_ppin ssbd mba ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_shadow vnmi flexpri ority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid cqm mpx rdt_a avx512f avx512dq rdseed adx smap clflushopt clwb intel_pt avx512cd avx512bw avx512vl xsaveopt xs avec xgetbv1 xsaves cqm_llc cqm_occup_llc cqm_mbm_total cqm_mbm_local dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_pkg_req pku ospke avx512_vnni md_clear flush_l1d arch_capabi lities Virtualization features: Virtualization: VT-x Caches (sum of all): L1d: 1 MiB (32 instances) L1i: 1 MiB (32 instances) L2: 32 MiB (32 instances) L3: 44 MiB (2 instances) NUMA: NUMA node(s): 2 NUMA node0 CPU(s): 0-15,32-47 NUMA node1 CPU(s): 16-31,48-63 Vulnerabilities: Gather data sampling: Mitigation; Microcode Itlb multihit: KVM: Mitigation: VMX disabled L1tf: Not affected Mds: Not affected Meltdown: Not affected Mmio stale data: Mitigation; Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable Retbleed: Mitigation; Enhanced IBRS Spec rstack overflow: Not affected Spec store bypass: Mitigation; Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl Spectre v1: Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization Spectre v2: Mitigation; Enhanced IBRS, IBPB conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS SW sequence Srbds: Not affected Tsx async abort: Mitigation; TSX disabled ``` ### Work Laptop Very strange. It absolutely **LOVES** zap 🤣! ![](./wrk/samples/laptop_req_per_sec_graph.png) ![](./wrk/samples/laptop_xfer_per_sec_graph.png) ``` ➜ neofetch --stdout rs@nixos -------- OS: NixOS 23.05.2918.4cdad15f34e6 (Stoat) x86_64 Host: LENOVO 20TKS0W700 Kernel: 6.1.45 Uptime: 1 day, 4 hours, 50 mins Packages: 6259 (nix-system), 267 (nix-user), 9 (flatpak) Shell: bash 5.2.15 Resolution: 3840x1600, 3840x2160 DE: none+i3 WM: i3 Terminal: tmux CPU: Intel i9-10885H (16) @ 5.300GHz GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile Memory: 4525MiB / 31805MiB ➜ lscpu Architecture: x86_64 CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit Address sizes: 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual Byte Order: Little Endian CPU(s): 16 On-line CPU(s) list: 0-15 Vendor ID: GenuineIntel Model name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10885H CPU @ 2.40GHz CPU family: 6 Model: 165 Thread(s) per core: 2 Core(s) per socket: 8 Socket(s): 1 Stepping: 2 CPU(s) scaling MHz: 56% CPU max MHz: 5300.0000 CPU min MHz: 800.0000 BogoMIPS: 4800.00 Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault epb invpcid_single ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust sgx bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid mpx rdseed adx smap clflushopt intel_pt xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_notify hwp_act_window hwp_epp pku ospke sgx_lc md_clear flush_l1d arch_capabilities Virtualization: VT-x L1d cache: 256 KiB (8 instances) L1i cache: 256 KiB (8 instances) L2 cache: 2 MiB (8 instances) L3 cache: 16 MiB (1 instance) NUMA node(s): 1 NUMA node0 CPU(s): 0-15 Vulnerability Gather data sampling: Mitigation; Microcode Vulnerability Itlb multihit: KVM: Mitigation: VMX disabled Vulnerability L1tf: Not affected Vulnerability Mds: Not affected Vulnerability Meltdown: Not affected Vulnerability Mmio stale data: Mitigation; Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable Vulnerability Retbleed: Mitigation; Enhanced IBRS Vulnerability Spec rstack overflow: Not affected Vulnerability Spec store bypass: Mitigation; Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl Vulnerability Spectre v1: Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization Vulnerability Spectre v2: Mitigation; Enhanced IBRS, IBPB conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS SW sequence Vulnerability Srbds: Mitigation; Microcode Vulnerability Tsx async abort: Not affected ```