Performance comparison of different ruby serializer methods

Gemfile

source 'https://rubygems.org'

gem 'benchmark-ips'
gem 'msgpack'
gem 'yajl-ruby', platforms: :ruby
gem 'oj', platforms: :ruby
gem 'jrjackson', platforms: :jruby
gem 'gson', platforms: :jruby

Gemfile.lock

GEM
  remote: https://rubygems.org/
  specs:
    benchmark-ips (2.3.0)
    gson (0.6.1-java)
    jrjackson (0.2.9)
    msgpack (0.6.2)
    msgpack (0.6.2-java)
    oj (2.12.12)
    yajl-ruby (1.1.0)

PLATFORMS
  java
  ruby

DEPENDENCIES
  benchmark-ips
  gson
  jrjackson
  msgpack
  oj
  yajl-ruby

BUNDLED WITH
   1.10.6

serializer_benchmarks.rb

# coding: utf-8
require 'benchmark/ips'
require 'yaml'
require 'json'
require 'msgpack'

if defined?(JRUBY_VERSION)
  require 'gson'
  require 'jrjackson'
else
  require 'yajl'
  require 'oj'
end

def encode(msg, format)
  case format
  when :yaml
    msg.to_yaml
  when :binary
    Marshal.dump(msg)
  when :json
    JSON.generate(msg)
  when :yajl
    Yajl::Encoder.encode(msg)
  when :oj
    Oj.dump(msg)
  when :gson
    Gson::Encoder.new.encode(msg)
  when :jrjackson
    JrJackson::Json.dump(msg)
  when :msgpack
    MessagePack.pack(msg)
  end
end

def decode(str, format)
  case format
  when :yaml
    YAML.load(str)
  when :binary
    Marshal.load(str)
  when :json
    JSON.parse(str)
  when :yajl
    Yajl::Parser.parse(str)
  when :oj
    Oj.load(str)
  when :gson
    Gson::Decoder.new.decode(str)
  when :jrjackson
    JrJackson::Json.load(str)
  when :msgpack
    MessagePack.unpack(str)
  end
end

obj = {
  :name => "Fredrick Smith",
  :quantity => 1_000_000,
  :addresses => {
    :address1 => "12 Heather Street, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand",
    :address2 => "1 Queen Street, CBD, Auckland, New Zealand"
  }
}

Benchmark.ips do |x|
  x.config(time: 5, warmup: 10)

  x.report("Marshal") { decode(encode(obj, :binary), :binary) }
  x.report("JSON (built-in)") { decode(encode(obj, :json), :json) }

  if defined?(JRUBY_VERSION)
    x.report("JSON (using Gson)") { decode(encode(obj, :gson), :gson) }
    x.report("JSON (using JrJackson)") do
      decode(encode(obj, :jrjackson), :jrjackson)
    end
  else
    x.report("JSON (using Yajl)") { decode(encode(obj, :yajl), :yajl) }
    x.report("JSON (using Oj)") { decode(encode(obj, :oj), :oj) }
  end

  x.report("YAML") { decode(encode(obj, :yaml), :yaml) }
  x.report("MessagePack") { decode(encode(obj, :msgpack), :msgpack) }

  x.compare!
end

# jruby-9.0.1.0-150821
# $ JRUBY_OPTS="--server -J-Xmx2G" jruby -G -S serializer_benchmarks.rb
#           MessagePack:   355148.9 i/s
#               Marshal:   184758.5 i/s - 1.92x slower
#     JSON (using Gson):   161817.3 i/s - 2.19x slower
#       JSON (built-in):   122530.0 i/s - 2.90x slower
#JSON (using JrJackson):    10736.1 i/s - 33.08x slower
#                  YAML:     4309.6 i/s - 82.41x slower

# jruby-1.7.20.1
# $ JRUBY_OPTS="--server -J-Xmx2G" jruby -G -S serializer_benchmarks.rb
#          MessagePack:   395416.6 i/s
#              Marshal:   181686.8 i/s - 2.18x slower
#    JSON (using Gson):   138398.9 i/s - 2.86x slower
#      JSON (built-in):   133260.0 i/s - 2.97x slower
# JSON (using JrJackson):  11603.0 i/s - 34.08x slower
#                 YAML:     5030.7 i/s - 78.60x slower

# MRI 2.2.3
# $ bundle exec ruby serializer_benchmarks.rb
#         MessagePack:   224382.1 i/s
#     JSON (using Oj):   181642.9 i/s - 1.24x slower
#             Marshal:   119823.9 i/s - 1.87x slower
#   JSON (using Yajl):    92159.5 i/s - 2.43x slower
#     JSON (built-in):    82719.3 i/s - 2.71x slower
#                YAML:     3200.7 i/s - 70.10x slower