Performance comparison of different ruby serializer methods

.ruby-version

2.5.0

all_with_core_types.rb

require './serializer_benchmarks'

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

run(hash)
run('string')
run(3.4)
run(nil)
run(true)

Gemfile

source 'https://rubygems.org'

gem 'benchmark-ips', require: 'benchmark/ips'

gem 'bson'
gem 'json'
gem 'msgpack'
gem 'oj'
gem 'yajl-ruby'

Gemfile.lock

GEM
  remote: https://rubygems.org/
  specs:
    benchmark-ips (2.7.2)
    bson (4.3.0)
    json (2.1.0)
    msgpack (1.2.4)
    oj (3.5.0)
    yajl-ruby (1.3.1)

PLATFORMS
  ruby

DEPENDENCIES
  benchmark-ips
  bson
  json
  msgpack
  oj
  yajl-ruby

BUNDLED WITH
   1.16.1

reduced_with_custom_types.rb

require './serializer_benchmarks'

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

class CustomClass
  attr_accessor :variable

  def run(a, b)
    a + b
  end

  def ==(other_custom_class)
    self.variable == other_custom_class.variable
  end
end
custom_class = CustomClass.new.tap { |instance| instance.variable = 'value' }

benches = DEFAULT_BENCHES.slice(:marshal, :oj)

run(hash, benches)
run(custom_class, benches)
run('string', benches)
run(3.4, benches)
run(3, benches)
run(nil, benches)
run(true, benches)

results

# Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7600U CPU @ 2.80GHz, 16GB DDR3 RAM
# ruby 2.5.0

# all_with_hash.rb
--> Benchmarking an object of type Hash

     JSON (using oj):       68.3 i/s
         MessagePack:       62.7 i/s - 1.09x  slower
                BSON:       54.7 i/s - 1.25x  slower
             Marshal:       41.4 i/s - 1.65x  slower
   JSON (using Yajl):       31.3 i/s - 2.18x  slower
JSON (built-in ruby):       26.9 i/s - 2.54x  slower
                YAML:        1.2 i/s - 59.15x  slower


--> Benchmarking an object of type String

     JSON (using oj):      344.6 i/s
                BSON:      308.3 i/s - 1.12x  slower
             Marshal:      151.1 i/s - 2.28x  slower
         MessagePack:      127.8 i/s - 2.70x  slower
JSON (built-in ruby):       99.2 i/s - 3.47x  slower
   JSON (using Yajl):       96.9 i/s - 3.55x  slower
                YAML:        4.7 i/s - 74.01x  slower


--> Benchmarking an object of type Float

                BSON:      332.6 i/s
     JSON (using oj):      204.1 i/s - 1.63x  slower
             Marshal:      168.1 i/s - 1.98x  slower
         MessagePack:      124.3 i/s - 2.68x  slower
JSON (built-in ruby):       83.8 i/s - 3.97x  slower
   JSON (using Yajl):       80.2 i/s - 4.15x  slower
                YAML:        4.5 i/s - 73.27x  slower


# reduced_with_different_objects.rb
--> Benchmarking an object of type Float

     JSON (using oj):      198.8 i/s
             Marshal:      169.1 i/s - 1.18x  slower


--> Benchmarking an object of type Hash

     JSON (using oj):       70.9 i/s
             Marshal:       44.4 i/s - 1.60x  slower


--> Benchmarking an object of type String
     JSON (using oj):      368.0 i/s
             Marshal:      158.3 i/s - 2.33x  slower


--> Benchmarking an object of type CustomClass

     JSON (using oj):      195.2 i/s
             Marshal:       87.4 i/s - 2.23x  slower

serializer_benchmarks.rb

require 'benchmark/ips'

require 'bson'
require 'json'
require 'msgpack'
require 'oj'
require 'yajl'
require 'yaml'

SAMPLES = 5_000

DEFAULT_BENCHES = {
  marshal: 'Marshal',
  json: 'JSON (built-in ruby)',
  yajl: 'JSON (using Yajl)',
  oj: 'JSON (using oj)',
  bson: 'BSON',
  yaml: 'YAML',
  msgpack: 'MessagePack'
}.freeze

def encode(msg, format)
  case format
  when :yaml
    msg.to_yaml
  when :marshal
    Marshal.dump(msg)
  when :json
    JSON.generate(msg)
  when :yajl
    Yajl::Encoder.encode(msg)
  when :oj
    Oj.dump(msg)
  when :bson
    msg.to_bson
  when :msgpack
    MessagePack.pack(msg)
  end
end

def decode(str, format, type)
  case format
  when :yaml
    YAML.load(str)
  when :marshal
    Marshal.load(str)
  when :json
    JSON.parse(str)
  when :yajl
    Yajl::Parser.parse(str)
  when :oj
    Oj.load(str)
  when :bson
    type.from_bson(str)
  when :msgpack
    MessagePack.unpack(str)
  end
end

def run(obj, benches = DEFAULT_BENCHES)
  puts "--> Benchmarking an object of type #{obj.class}"

  Benchmark.ips do |r|
    benches.each do |key, title|
      r.report(title) do
        SAMPLES.times do
          decoded_obj = decode(encode(obj, key), key, obj.class)
          if decoded_obj != obj
            raise <<~RAISE
              Deserialized object of type #{obj.class} is not the same as before serialization / deserialization
              before: #{obj.inspect}
              after:  #{decoded_obj.inspect}
            RAISE
          end
        end
      end
    end

    r.compare!
  end
end