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benchmark: add calibrate-n script
This script should help identify the best N when creating/updating benchmarks Signed-off-by: RafaelGSS <rafael.nunu@hotmail.com> PR-URL: #59186 Reviewed-By: Vinícius Lourenço Claro Cardoso <contact@viniciusl.com.br> Reviewed-By: James M Snell <jasnell@gmail.com>
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‎benchmark/calibrate-n.js‎

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'use strict';
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const path = require('node:path');
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const { fork } = require('node:child_process');
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const fs = require('node:fs');
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const { styleText } = require('node:util');
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const DEFAULT_RUNS = 30; // Number of runs for each n value
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const CV_THRESHOLD = 0.05; // 5% coefficient of variation threshold
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const MAX_N_INCREASE = 6; // Maximum number of times to increase n (10**6)
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const INCREASE_FACTOR = 10; // Factor by which to increase n
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const args = process.argv.slice(2);
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if (args.length === 0) {
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console.log(`
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Usage: node calibrate-n.js [options] <benchmark_path>
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Options:
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--runs=N Number of runs for each n value (default: ${DEFAULT_RUNS})
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--cv-threshold=N Target coefficient of variation threshold (default: ${CV_THRESHOLD})
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--max-increases=N Maximum number of n increases to try (default: ${MAX_N_INCREASE})
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--start-n=N Initial n value to start with (default: autodetect)
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--increase=N Factor by which to increase n (default: ${INCREASE_FACTOR})
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Example:
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node calibrate-n.js buffers/buffer-compare.js
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node calibrate-n.js --runs=10 --cv-threshold=0.02 buffers/buffer-compare.js
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`);
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process.exit(1);
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}
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// Extract options
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let benchmarkPath;
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let runs = DEFAULT_RUNS;
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let cvThreshold = CV_THRESHOLD;
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let maxIncreases = MAX_N_INCREASE;
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let startN = 10;
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let increaseFactor = INCREASE_FACTOR;
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for (const arg of args) {
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if (arg.startsWith('--runs=')) {
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runs = parseInt(arg.substring(7), 10);
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} else if (arg.startsWith('--cv-threshold=')) {
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cvThreshold = parseFloat(arg.substring(14));
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} else if (arg.startsWith('--max-increases=')) {
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maxIncreases = parseInt(arg.substring(15), 10);
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if (isNaN(maxIncreases)) {
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console.error(`Error: Invalid value for --max-increases. Using default: ${MAX_N_INCREASE}`);
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maxIncreases = MAX_N_INCREASE;
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}
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} else if (arg.startsWith('--start-n=')) {
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startN = parseInt(arg.substring(10), 10);
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if (isNaN(startN)) {
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console.error(`Error: Invalid value for --start-n. Using default: 10`);
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startN = 10;
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}
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} else if (arg.startsWith('--increase=')) {
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increaseFactor = parseInt(arg.substring(11), 10);
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if (isNaN(increaseFactor)) {
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console.error(`Error: Invalid value for --increase. Using default: ${INCREASE_FACTOR}`);
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increaseFactor = INCREASE_FACTOR;
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}
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} else {
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benchmarkPath = arg;
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}
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}
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if (!benchmarkPath) {
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console.error('Error: No benchmark path specified');
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process.exit(1);
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}
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const fullBenchmarkPath = path.resolve(benchmarkPath);
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if (!fs.existsSync(fullBenchmarkPath)) {
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console.error(`Error: Benchmark file not found: ${fullBenchmarkPath}`);
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process.exit(1);
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}
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function calculateStats(values) {
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const mean = values.reduce((sum, val) => sum + val, 0) / values.length;
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const squaredDiffs = values.map((val) => {
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const diff = val - mean;
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const squared = diff ** 2;
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return squared;
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});
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const variance = squaredDiffs.reduce((sum, val) => sum + val, 0) / values.length;
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const stdDev = Math.sqrt(variance);
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const cv = stdDev / mean;
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return { mean, stdDev, cv, variance };
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}
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function runBenchmark(n) {
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return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
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const child = fork(
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fullBenchmarkPath,
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[`n=${n}`],
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{ stdio: ['inherit', 'pipe', 'inherit', 'ipc'] },
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);
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const results = [];
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child.on('message', (data) => {
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if (data.type === 'report' && data.rate && data.conf) {
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results.push({
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rate: data.rate,
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conf: data.conf,
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});
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}
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});
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child.on('close', (code) => {
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if (code !== 0) {
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reject(new Error(`Benchmark exited with code ${code}`));
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} else {
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resolve(results);
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}
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});
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});
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}
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async function main(n = startN) {
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let increaseCount = 0;
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let bestN = n;
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let bestCV = Infinity;
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let bestGroupStats = null;
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console.log(`
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--------------------------------------------------------
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Benchmark: ${benchmarkPath}
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--------------------------------------------------------
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What we are trying to find: The optimal number of iterations (n)
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that produces consistent benchmark results without wasting time.
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How it works:
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1. Run the benchmark multiple times with a specific n value
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2. Group results by configuration
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3. If overall CV is above 5% or any configuration has CV above 10%, increase n and try again
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Configuration:
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- Starting n: ${n.toLocaleString()} iterations
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- Runs per n value: ${runs}
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- Target CV threshold: ${cvThreshold * 100}% (lower CV = more stable results)
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- Max increases: ${maxIncreases}
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- Increase factor: ${increaseFactor}x`);
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while (increaseCount < maxIncreases) {
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console.log(`\nTesting with n=${n}:`);
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const resultsData = [];
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for (let i = 0; i < runs; i++) {
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const results = await runBenchmark(n);
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// Each run might return multiple results (one per configuration)
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if (Array.isArray(results) && results.length > 0) {
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resultsData.push(...results);
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} else if (results) {
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resultsData.push(results);
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}
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process.stdout.write('.');
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}
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process.stdout.write('\n');
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const groupedResults = {};
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resultsData.forEach((result) => {
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if (!result || !result.conf) return;
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const confKey = JSON.stringify(result.conf);
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groupedResults[confKey] ||= {
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conf: result.conf,
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rates: [],
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};
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groupedResults[confKey].rates.push(result.rate);
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});
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const groupStats = [];
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for (const [confKey, group] of Object.entries(groupedResults)) {
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console.log(`\nConfiguration: ${JSON.stringify(group.conf)}`);
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const stats = calculateStats(group.rates);
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console.log(` CV: ${(stats.cv * 100).toFixed(2)}% (lower values mean more stable results)`);
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const isStable = stats.cv <= cvThreshold;
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console.log(` Stability: ${isStable ?
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styleText(['bold', 'green'], '✓ Stable') :
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styleText(['bold', 'red'], '✗ Unstable')}`);
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groupStats.push({
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confKey,
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stats,
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isStable,
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});
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}
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if (groupStats.length > 0) {
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// Check if any configuration has CV > 10% (too unstable)
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const tooUnstableConfigs = groupStats.filter((g) => g.stats.cv > 0.10);
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const avgCV = groupStats.reduce((sum, g) => sum + g.stats.cv, 0) / groupStats.length;
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console.log(`\nOverall average CV: ${(avgCV * 100).toFixed(2)}%`);
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const isOverallStable = avgCV < CV_THRESHOLD;
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const hasVeryUnstableConfigs = tooUnstableConfigs.length > 0;
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// Check if overall CV is below CV_THRESHOLD and no configuration has CV > 10%
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if (isOverallStable && !hasVeryUnstableConfigs) {
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console.log(styleText(['bold', 'green'], ` ✓ Overall CV is below 5% and no configuration has CV above 10%`));
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} else {
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if (!isOverallStable) {
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console.log(styleText(['bold', 'red'], ` ✗ Overall CV (${(avgCV * 100).toFixed(2)}%) is above 5%`));
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}
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if (hasVeryUnstableConfigs) {
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console.log(styleText(['bold', 'red'], ` ✗ ${tooUnstableConfigs.length} configuration(s) have CV above 10%`));
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}
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}
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if (avgCV < bestCV || !bestGroupStats) {
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bestN = n;
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bestCV = avgCV;
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bestGroupStats = [];
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for (const group of Object.values(groupedResults)) {
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if (group.rates.length >= 3) {
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const stats = calculateStats(group.rates);
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bestGroupStats.push({
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conf: group.conf,
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stats: stats,
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isStable: stats.cv <= 0.10,
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});
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}
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}
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console.log(` → New best n: ${n} with average CV: ${(avgCV * 100).toFixed(2)}%`);
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} else {
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console.log(` → Current best n remains: ${bestN} with average CV: ${(bestCV * 100).toFixed(2)}%`);
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}
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}
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// Check if we've reached acceptable stability based on new criteria
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// 1. Overall CV should be below CV_THRESHOLD
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// 2. No configuration should have a CV greater than 10%
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const avgCV = groupStats.length > 0 ?
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groupStats.reduce((sum, g) => sum + g.stats.cv, 0) / groupStats.length : Infinity;
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const hasUnstableConfig = groupStats.some((g) => g.stats.cv > 0.10);
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const isOverallStable = avgCV < CV_THRESHOLD;
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if (isOverallStable && !hasUnstableConfig) {
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console.log(`\n✓ Found optimal n=${n} (Overall CV=${(avgCV * 100).toFixed(2)}% < 5% and no configuration has CV > 10%)`);
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console.log('\nFinal CV for each configuration:');
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groupStats.forEach((g) => {
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console.log(` ${JSON.stringify(groupedResults[g.confKey].conf)}: ${(g.stats.cv * 100).toFixed(2)}%`);
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});
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return n;
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}
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increaseCount++;
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n *= increaseFactor;
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}
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if (increaseCount >= maxIncreases) {
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const finalAvgCV = bestGroupStats && bestGroupStats.length > 0 ?
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bestGroupStats.reduce((sum, g) => sum + g.stats.cv, 0) / bestGroupStats.length : Infinity;
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console.log(`Maximum number of increases (${maxIncreases}) reached without achieving target stability`);
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console.log(`Best n found: ${bestN} with average CV=${(finalAvgCV * 100).toFixed(2)}%`);
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console.log(`\nCV by configuration at best n:`);
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if (bestGroupStats) {
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bestGroupStats.forEach((g) => {
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if (g.conf) {
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console.log(` ${JSON.stringify(g.conf)}: ${(g.stats.cv * 100).toFixed(2)}%`);
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if (g.stats.cv > cvThreshold) {
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console.log(` ⚠️ This configuration is above the target threshold of ${cvThreshold * 100}%`);
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}
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}
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});
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}
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}
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console.log(`
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Recommendation: You might want to try increasing --max-increases to
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continue testing with larger n values, or adjust --cv-threshold to
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accept the current best result, or investigate if specific configurations
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are contributing to instability.`);
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return bestN;
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}
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main().catch((err) => {
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console.error('Error:', err);
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process.exit(1);
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});

‎doc/contributing/writing-and-running-benchmarks.md‎

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* [Benchmark analysis requirements](#benchmark-analysis-requirements)
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* [Running benchmarks](#running-benchmarks)
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* [Running individual benchmarks](#running-individual-benchmarks)
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* [Calibrating the number of iterations with calibrate-n.js](#calibrating-the-number-of-iterations-with-calibrate-njs)
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* [Running all benchmarks](#running-all-benchmarks)
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* [Specifying CPU Cores for Benchmarks with run.js](#specifying-cpu-cores-for-benchmarks-with-runjs)
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* [Filtering benchmarks](#filtering-benchmarks)
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buffers/buffer-tostring.js n=10000000 len=1024 arg=false: 3783071.1678948295
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```
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### Calibrating the number of iterations with calibrate-n.js
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Before running benchmarks, it's often useful to determine the optimal number of iterations (`n`)
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that provides statistically stable results. The `calibrate-n.js` tool helps find this value by
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running a benchmark multiple times with increasing `n` values until the coefficient of variation (CV)
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falls below a target threshold.
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```console
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$ node benchmark/calibrate-n.js benchmark/buffers/buffer-compare.js
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--------------------------------------------------------
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Benchmark: buffers/buffer-compare.js
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--------------------------------------------------------
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What we are trying to find: The optimal number of iterations (n)
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that produces consistent benchmark results without wasting time.
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How it works:
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1. Run the benchmark multiple times with a specific n value
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2. Group results by configuration
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3. If overall CV is above 5% or any configuration has CV above 10%, increase n and try again
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4. Stop when we have stable results (overall CV < 5% and all configs CV < 10%) or max increases reached
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Configuration:
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- Starting n: 10 iterations
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- Runs per n value: 30
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- Target CV threshold: 5% (lower CV = more stable results)
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- Max increases: 6
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- Increase factor: 10x
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```
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The tool accepts several options:
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* `--runs=N`: Number of runs for each n value (default: 30)
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* `--cv-threshold=N`: Target coefficient of variation threshold (default: 0.05)
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* `--max-increases=N`: Maximum number of n increases to try (default: 6)
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* `--start-n=N`: Initial n value to start with (default: 10)
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* `--increase=N`: Factor by which to increase n (default: 10)
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Once you've determined a stable `n` value, you can use it when running your benchmarks.
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### Running all benchmarks
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Similar to running individual benchmarks, a group of benchmarks can be executed

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