| # Benchmark | |
| [](https://github.com/google/benchmark/actions?query=workflow%3Abuild-and-test) | |
| [](https://github.com/google/benchmark/actions/workflows/bazel.yml) | |
| [](https://github.com/google/benchmark/actions?query=workflow%3Atest-bindings) | |
| [](https://coveralls.io/r/google/benchmark) | |
| [](https://securityscorecards.dev/viewer/?uri=github.com/google/benchmark) | |
| [](https://discord.gg/cz7UX7wKC2) | |
| A library to benchmark code snippets, similar to unit tests. Example: | |
| ```c++ | |
| #include <benchmark/benchmark.h> | |
| static void BM_SomeFunction(benchmark::State& state) { | |
| // Perform setup here | |
| for (auto _ : state) { | |
| // This code gets timed | |
| SomeFunction(); | |
| } | |
| } | |
| // Register the function as a benchmark | |
| BENCHMARK(BM_SomeFunction); | |
| // Run the benchmark | |
| BENCHMARK_MAIN(); | |
| ``` | |
| ## Getting Started | |
| To get started, see [Requirements](#requirements) and | |
| [Installation](#installation). See [Usage](#usage) for a full example and the | |
| [User Guide](docs/user_guide.md) for a more comprehensive feature overview. | |
| It may also help to read the [Google Test documentation](https://github.com/google/googletest/blob/main/docs/primer.md) | |
| as some of the structural aspects of the APIs are similar. | |
| ## Resources | |
| [Discussion group](https://groups.google.com/d/forum/benchmark-discuss) | |
| IRC channels: | |
| * [libera](https://libera.chat) #benchmark | |
| [Additional Tooling Documentation](docs/tools.md) | |
| [Assembly Testing Documentation](docs/AssemblyTests.md) | |
| [Building and installing Python bindings](docs/python_bindings.md) | |
| ## Requirements | |
| The library can be used with C++11. However, it requires C++17 to build, | |
| including compiler and standard library support. | |
| _See [dependencies.md](docs/dependencies.md) for more details regarding supported | |
| compilers and standards._ | |
| If you have need for a particular compiler to be supported, patches are very welcome. | |
| See [Platform-Specific Build Instructions](docs/platform_specific_build_instructions.md). | |
| ## Installation | |
| This describes the installation process using cmake. As pre-requisites, you'll | |
| need git and cmake installed. | |
| _See [dependencies.md](docs/dependencies.md) for more details regarding supported | |
| versions of build tools._ | |
| ```bash | |
| # Check out the library. | |
| $ git clone https://github.com/google/benchmark.git | |
| # Go to the library root directory | |
| $ cd benchmark | |
| # Make a build directory to place the build output. | |
| $ cmake -E make_directory "build" | |
| # Generate build system files with cmake, and download any dependencies. | |
| $ cmake -E chdir "build" cmake -DBENCHMARK_DOWNLOAD_DEPENDENCIES=on -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ../ | |
| # or, starting with CMake 3.13, use a simpler form: | |
| # cmake -DBENCHMARK_DOWNLOAD_DEPENDENCIES=on -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -S . -B "build" | |
| # Build the library. | |
| $ cmake --build "build" --config Release | |
| ``` | |
| This builds the `benchmark` and `benchmark_main` libraries and tests. | |
| On a unix system, the build directory should now look something like this: | |
| ``` | |
| /benchmark | |
| /build | |
| /src | |
| /libbenchmark.a | |
| /libbenchmark_main.a | |
| /test | |
| ... | |
| ``` | |
| Next, you can run the tests to check the build. | |
| ```bash | |
| $ cmake -E chdir "build" ctest --build-config Release | |
| ``` | |
| If you want to install the library globally, also run: | |
| ``` | |
| sudo cmake --build "build" --config Release --target install | |
| ``` | |
| Note that Google Benchmark requires Google Test to build and run the tests. This | |
| dependency can be provided two ways: | |
| * Checkout the Google Test sources into `benchmark/googletest`. | |
| * Otherwise, if `-DBENCHMARK_DOWNLOAD_DEPENDENCIES=ON` is specified during | |
| configuration as above, the library will automatically download and build | |
| any required dependencies. | |
| If you do not wish to build and run the tests, add `-DBENCHMARK_ENABLE_GTEST_TESTS=OFF` | |
| to `CMAKE_ARGS`. | |
| ### Debug vs Release | |
| By default, benchmark builds as a debug library. You will see a warning in the | |
| output when this is the case. To build it as a release library instead, add | |
| `-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release` when generating the build system files, as shown | |
| above. The use of `--config Release` in build commands is needed to properly | |
| support multi-configuration tools (like Visual Studio for example) and can be | |
| skipped for other build systems (like Makefile). | |
| To enable link-time optimisation, also add `-DBENCHMARK_ENABLE_LTO=true` when | |
| generating the build system files. | |
| If you are using gcc, you might need to set `GCC_AR` and `GCC_RANLIB` cmake | |
| cache variables, if autodetection fails. | |
| If you are using clang, you may need to set `LLVMAR_EXECUTABLE`, | |
| `LLVMNM_EXECUTABLE` and `LLVMRANLIB_EXECUTABLE` cmake cache variables. | |
| To enable sanitizer checks (eg., `asan` and `tsan`), add: | |
| ``` | |
| -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS="-g -O2 -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fsanitize=address -fsanitize=thread -fno-sanitize-recover=all" | |
| -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-g -O2 -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fsanitize=address -fsanitize=thread -fno-sanitize-recover=all " | |
| ``` | |
| ### Stable and Experimental Library Versions | |
| The main branch contains the latest stable version of the benchmarking library; | |
| the API of which can be considered largely stable, with source breaking changes | |
| being made only upon the release of a new major version. | |
| Newer, experimental, features are implemented and tested on the | |
| [`v2` branch](https://github.com/google/benchmark/tree/v2). Users who wish | |
| to use, test, and provide feedback on the new features are encouraged to try | |
| this branch. However, this branch provides no stability guarantees and reserves | |
| the right to change and break the API at any time. | |
| ## Usage | |
| ### Basic usage | |
| Define a function that executes the code to measure, register it as a benchmark | |
| function using the `BENCHMARK` macro, and ensure an appropriate `main` function | |
| is available: | |
| ```c++ | |
| #include <benchmark/benchmark.h> | |
| static void BM_StringCreation(benchmark::State& state) { | |
| for (auto _ : state) | |
| std::string empty_string; | |
| } | |
| // Register the function as a benchmark | |
| BENCHMARK(BM_StringCreation); | |
| // Define another benchmark | |
| static void BM_StringCopy(benchmark::State& state) { | |
| std::string x = "hello"; | |
| for (auto _ : state) | |
| std::string copy(x); | |
| } | |
| BENCHMARK(BM_StringCopy); | |
| BENCHMARK_MAIN(); | |
| ``` | |
| To run the benchmark, compile and link against the `benchmark` library | |
| (libbenchmark.a/.so). If you followed the build steps above, this library will | |
| be under the build directory you created. | |
| ```bash | |
| # Example on linux after running the build steps above. Assumes the | |
| # `benchmark` and `build` directories are under the current directory. | |
| $ g++ mybenchmark.cc -std=c++11 -isystem benchmark/include \ | |
| -Lbenchmark/build/src -lbenchmark -lpthread -o mybenchmark | |
| ``` | |
| Alternatively, link against the `benchmark_main` library and remove | |
| `BENCHMARK_MAIN();` above to get the same behavior. | |
| The compiled executable will run all benchmarks by default. Pass the `--help` | |
| flag for option information or see the [User Guide](docs/user_guide.md). | |
| ### Usage with CMake | |
| If using CMake, it is recommended to link against the project-provided | |
| `benchmark::benchmark` and `benchmark::benchmark_main` targets using | |
| `target_link_libraries`. | |
| It is possible to use ```find_package``` to import an installed version of the | |
| library. | |
| ```cmake | |
| find_package(benchmark REQUIRED) | |
| ``` | |
| Alternatively, ```add_subdirectory``` will incorporate the library directly in | |
| to one's CMake project. | |
| ```cmake | |
| add_subdirectory(benchmark) | |
| ``` | |
| Either way, link to the library as follows. | |
| ```cmake | |
| target_link_libraries(MyTarget benchmark::benchmark) | |
| ``` |