benchmark between lists:keyfind and proplists:get_value

pvsl.erl

-module(pvsl).
-define(LIST_SIZES, [10000, 100000, 1000000]).
-define(RETRIES, 1000).
-compile(export_all).

start() ->
	% test for different list sizes
	lists:foreach(fun(N) -> test_list(N) end, ?LIST_SIZES).

test_list(ListSize) ->
	% generate a list of size ListSize of {Key, Val} entries
	KeyList = [{K, K} || K <- lists:seq(1, ListSize)],
	% test this list against both functions
	lists:foreach(fun(Type) -> get_val(Type, now(), KeyList, ListSize, ?RETRIES) end,
		[proplists, lists]).

% test getting values, compute necessary time and output print results
get_val(Type, Start, _KeyList, ListSize, 0) ->
	T = timer:now_diff(now(), Start),
	io:format("computed ~p random key searches on a ~p-sized list in ~p ms using ~p~n",
		[?RETRIES, ListSize, T/1000, Type]);
get_val(proplists, Start, KeyList, ListSize, Tries) ->
	proplists:get_value(random:uniform(ListSize), KeyList),
	get_val(proplists, Start, KeyList, ListSize, Tries - 1);
get_val(lists, Start, KeyList, ListSize, Tries) ->
	lists:keyfind(random:uniform(ListSize), 1, KeyList),
	get_val(lists, Start, KeyList, ListSize, Tries - 1).