gistfile1.txt

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w

use common::sense;
use Benchmark qw(:all);

use YAML::Syck qw();
use YAML::XS qw();

my $yaml = `cat foo.yaml`;

cmpthese(1000,
{
  'syck' => sub { my $obj = YAML::Syck::Load($yaml); my $string = YAML::Syck::Dump($obj); },
  'xs' => sub { my $obj = YAML::XS::Load($yaml); my $string = YAML::XS::Dump($obj); },
});

[nrh@toki ~/projects/pogo] perl comp.pl 
            (warning: too few iterations for a reliable count)
       Rate     xs   syck
xs   34.9/s     --   -99%
syck 6250/s 17806%     --