efika-perf is the performance benchmark framework for project Efika. The benchmark framework is built on the Celero C++ benchmarking library. Its primary purpose is twofold. First, it is intended to allow for direct comparison of competing implementations of data structures and algorithms in the other components of project Efika. Second, it is intended to be applied over a subset of a component's Git history to identify performance regressions which are not easily noticed when looking at performance diffs of one commit to the next. Another tool, efika-stat, is under development to visualize the metrics output by this benchmark to study the performance of a component over time.

Like the other components of project Efika, this repository is developed and maintained separately from the other components. As such, the code contained herein depends on well defined APIs in the other Efika components with which it interacts. For example, in the component which implements fixed-radius nearest neighbor algorithms (efika-apss), not all of the currently available algorithms have been implemented from the initial commit. Normally this would mean that the evolution of the benchmark should be synchronized with the component; as algorithms are added and removed, the benchmark is updated. Instead, the benchmark checks during configuration for the availability of functions of interest and automatically includes them in the benchmark if they are.

Rationale

The reason for this benchmark design originated from my desire to apply later versions of my benchmarking program to earlier versions of the components being benchmarked. It is quite common in my experience for a benchmark program to evolve and become more robust over time, much like other parts of a project. However, when the development of the benchmark itself is part of the history of each of the components, then retroactively applying the current benchmark to multiple versions of other parts of the code base can be tedious. With the solution that has been implemented here, it is just a matter of writing a script that iterates through the Git history of a component and recompiles the benchmark program against that revision.