Programming Language and compiler
Benchmarks

Results for 38 of 40 languages from this run on actest1.

Unavailable in this run: Hack, Lisp. Follow the run link for failure details.

Zig VS C benchmarks

Current benchmark data was generated on Sun Sep 27 2026, full log can be found HERE

CONTRIBUTIONS are WELCOME!

[x86_64][4 cores] Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3687U CPU @ 2.10GHz (Model 58)

* -m in a file name stands for multi-threading or multi-processing

* -i in a file name stands for direct intrinsics usage. (Usage of simd intrinsics via libraries is not counted)

* -ffi in a file name stands for non-stdlib FFI usage

* (You may find time < time(user) + time(sys) for some non-parallelized programs, the overhead is from GC or JIT compiler, which are allowed to take advantage of multi-cores as that's more close to real-world scenarios.)

binarytrees

Input: 18

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 2945ms 28ms 49.1MB 2920ms 7ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 280ms 53ms 7.1MB 240ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

edigits

Input: 250001

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 5068ms 18ms 2.4MB 5030ms 20ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 100000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 841ms 12ms 2.0MB 823ms 3ms zig 0.14.1

fannkuch-redux

Input: 11

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 2-m.zig 833ms 6.5ms 1.5MB 3140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 3-i.zig 1413ms 43ms 1.1MB 1400ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 2763ms 12ms 1.1MB 2753ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 10

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 2-m.zig 77ms 2.6ms 1.5MB 243ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 3-i.zig 124ms 4.7ms 1.1MB 113ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 239ms 3.8ms 1.1MB 227ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

fasta

Input: 2500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 138ms 0.5ms 1.1MB 127ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 250000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 17ms 1.2ms 1.1MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

helloworld

Input: QwQ

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 1.3ms 0.5ms 1.1MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 1.c 1.7ms 0.2ms 1.1MB 0ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 1.c 1.8ms 0.3ms 1.6MB 0ms 0ms clang 18.1.3

knucleotide

Input: 2500000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
c 1-m.c 430ms 18ms 23.7MB 927ms 10ms gcc 13.3.0
c 1-m.c 605ms 36ms 25.9MB 1863ms 40ms clang 18.1.3
zig 1-m.zig 798ms 15ms 66.9MB 2580ms 27ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 1043ms 10ms 26.3MB 1013ms 7ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 250000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
c 1-m.c 59ms 8.2ms 13.2MB 103ms 3ms gcc 13.3.0
c 1-m.c 83ms 7.5ms 17.0MB 267ms 7ms clang 18.1.3
zig 1-m.zig 117ms 4.2ms 55.0MB 293ms 43ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 130ms 6.2ms 15.5MB 107ms 3ms zig 0.14.1

lru

Input: 1000 1000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 51ms 1.5ms 2.7MB 40ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 1000 3000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 143ms 5.9ms 2.7MB 133ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 100 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 26ms 0.9ms 1.1MB 13ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

mandelbrot

Input: 5000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
c 1-mffi.c 293ms 24ms 7.4MB 1010ms 20ms clang 18.1.3
zig 1.zig 350ms 2.1ms 4.2MB 340ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 1-ffi.c 438ms 34ms 6.5MB 423ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
c 1-mffi.c 516ms 3.0ms 6.3MB 1540ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 1-ffi.c 1010ms 20ms 5.9MB 997ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0

Input: 1000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 17ms 0.6ms 1.1MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 1-mffi.c 18ms 2.0ms 6.8MB 37ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
c 1-ffi.c 23ms 2.8ms 2.6MB 10ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
c 1-mffi.c 30ms 5.0ms 2.2MB 63ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 1-ffi.c 45ms 0.5ms 2.3MB 33ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0

merkletrees

Input: 17

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 1494ms 63ms 41.2MB 1463ms 13ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 267ms 4.3ms 11.0MB 253ms 3ms zig 0.14.1

nbody

Input: 5000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 379ms 3.1ms 1.1MB 370ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 8-i.c 393ms 4.7ms 1.1MB 387ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
zig 2.zig 470ms 2.9ms 1.1MB 457ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 5.c 483ms 1.6ms 1.5MB 470ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
zig 1.zig 510ms 3.2ms 1.1MB 500ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 2.c 520ms 1.4ms 1.0MB 510ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 5.c 541ms 2.5ms 1.1MB 530ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 2.c 549ms 1.2ms 1.5MB 540ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
c 8-i.c 555ms 0.8ms 1.5MB 550ms 0ms clang 18.1.3

Input: 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
c 8-i.c 42ms 1.4ms 1.1MB 30ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
zig 3.zig 42ms 3.2ms 1.1MB 33ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 50ms 2.1ms 1.1MB 40ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 5.c 52ms 1.1ms 1.5MB 40ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
c 2.c 55ms 0.3ms 1.1MB 50ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
zig 1.zig 56ms 2.3ms 1.1MB 47ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 5.c 59ms 2.8ms 1.1MB 50ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 2.c 59ms 1.7ms 1.5MB 50ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
c 8-i.c 61ms 3.7ms 1.5MB 53ms 0ms clang 18.1.3

nsieve

Input: 12

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 2.zig 552ms 15ms 6.0MB 543ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 958ms 9.6ms 40.1MB 940ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 1.c 966ms 2.5ms 40.8MB 943ms 7ms clang 18.1.3
c 1.c 967ms 2.3ms 40.3MB 943ms 7ms gcc 13.3.0

Input: 10

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 2.zig 107ms 1.3ms 2.2MB 100ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
c 1.c 168ms 1.1ms 11.1MB 153ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 1.c 169ms 2.0ms 11.6MB 157ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
zig 1.zig 170ms 4.1ms 11.0MB 160ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

pidigits

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 3461ms 6.4ms 2.3MB 3433ms 13ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 854ms 121ms 1.9MB 837ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

spectral-norm

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
c 6-im.c 1696ms 2.3ms 5.2MB 6667ms 17ms clang 18.1.3
c 6-im.c 1825ms 12ms 2.1MB 7167ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 4-m.c 2992ms 24ms 5.2MB 11847ms 10ms clang 18.1.3
c 4-m.c 3065ms 33ms 2.4MB 12143ms 3ms gcc 13.3.0
c 5-im.c 3141ms 26ms 5.2MB 12413ms 10ms clang 18.1.3
c 5-im.c 3152ms 6.6ms 1.4MB 12477ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 3-m.c 5834ms 6.1ms 3.3MB 23127ms 10ms clang 18.1.3
c 3-m.c 5845ms 11ms 1.4MB 23160ms 3ms gcc 13.3.0
zig 1.zig 11057ms 6.2ms 1.1MB 11043ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
c 6-im.c 435ms 3.9ms 3.3MB 1680ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
c 6-im.c 503ms 87ms 1.1MB 1907ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 5-im.c 787ms 0.9ms 1.4MB 3087ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 5-im.c 790ms 4.1ms 3.3MB 3097ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
c 4-m.c 790ms 73ms 3.2MB 3080ms 3ms clang 18.1.3
c 4-m.c 834ms 106ms 1.5MB 3233ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 3-m.c 1463ms 1.5ms 1.4MB 5773ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 3-m.c 1467ms 4.2ms 3.3MB 5757ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
zig 1.zig 2773ms 1.4ms 1.1MB 2757ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 2000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
c 6-im.c 116ms 0.7ms 5.6MB 420ms 7ms clang 18.1.3
c 6-im.c 123ms 0.3ms 3.1MB 453ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 4-m.c 200ms 6.3ms 3.2MB 733ms 7ms clang 18.1.3
c 4-m.c 200ms 0.9ms 1.4MB 763ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 5-im.c 202ms 2.1ms 5.2MB 753ms 3ms clang 18.1.3
c 5-im.c 208ms 3.0ms 1.4MB 790ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
c 3-m.c 370ms 0.5ms 3.3MB 1430ms 0ms clang 18.1.3
c 3-m.c 371ms 0.9ms 1.5MB 1440ms 0ms gcc 13.3.0
zig 1.zig 697ms 1.0ms 1.1MB 690ms 0ms zig 0.14.1