Programming Language and compiler
Benchmarks

Lua VS Python benchmarks

Current benchmark data was generated on Tue Mar 25 2025, full log can be found HERE

CONTRIBUTIONS are WELCOME!

[x86_64][4 cores] AMD EPYC 7763 64-Core Processor (Model 1)

* -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
python 1.py 1197ms 3.3ms 96.2MB 1130ms 53ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua 3609ms 57ms 172.8MB 3463ms 133ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 104.9MB 4947ms 40ms lua 5.4.7
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 40.8MB 4967ms 17ms cpython 3.13.2
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 40.5MB 4740ms 250ms pyston 3.8.12

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
python 1.py 97ms 2.2ms 68.7MB 67ms 17ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua 296ms 4.6ms 15.6MB 273ms 10ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 1.py 487ms 1.2ms 11.9MB 460ms 13ms pyston 3.8.12
python 1.py 726ms 15ms 12.6MB 713ms 0ms cpython 3.13.2
lua 1.lua 822ms 9.4ms 16.9MB 810ms 0ms lua 5.4.7

helloworld

Input: QwQ

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 1.lua 1.5ms 0.2ms 2.1MB 0ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
lua 1.lua 1.5ms 0.1ms 2.4MB 0ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 1.py 12ms 0.8ms 7.6MB 0ms 0ms pyston 3.8.12
python 1.py 14ms 1.2ms 8.6MB 10ms 0ms cpython 3.13.2
python 1.py 30ms 1.2ms 51.4MB 10ms 10ms pypy 3.10.16

merkletrees

Input: 17

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
python 1.py 2242ms 13ms 202.7MB 2123ms 100ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 107.5MB 4950ms 33ms lua 5.4.7
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 149.3MB 4927ms 60ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 93.6MB 4953ms 30ms cpython 3.13.2
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 130.4MB 4930ms 53ms pyston 3.8.12

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
python 1.py 384ms 3.7ms 105.2MB 320ms 47ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua 1193ms 7.0ms 31.3MB 1163ms 17ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
lua 1.lua 2269ms 74ms 28.6MB 2247ms 7ms lua 5.4.7
python 1.py 3229ms 20ms 37.2MB 3203ms 13ms cpython 3.13.2
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 48.4MB 4963ms 23ms pyston 3.8.12

nbody

Input: 5000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 4.lua 717ms 7.0ms 2.3MB 703ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 2.py 1357ms 7.5ms 57.9MB 1330ms 10ms pypy 3.10.16
python 1.py 2662ms 11ms 57.2MB 2640ms 10ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 4.lua timeout 0.0ms 2.3MB 4990ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 8.8MB 4990ms 0ms cpython 3.13.2
python 2.py timeout 0.0ms 8.8MB 4990ms 0ms cpython 3.13.2
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 8.3MB 4990ms 0ms pyston 3.8.12
python 2.py timeout 0.0ms 8.1MB 4990ms 0ms pyston 3.8.12

Input: 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 4.lua 77ms 2.5ms 2.3MB 70ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 2.py 179ms 2.5ms 57.9MB 157ms 10ms pypy 3.10.16
python 1.py 310ms 12ms 57.0MB 287ms 10ms pypy 3.10.16
python 1.py 934ms 14ms 8.3MB 920ms 0ms pyston 3.8.12
lua 4.lua 1108ms 50ms 2.3MB 1100ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
python 2.py 1326ms 45ms 8.1MB 1313ms 0ms pyston 3.8.12
python 1.py 3035ms 123ms 8.6MB 3020ms 0ms cpython 3.13.2
python 2.py 3207ms 87ms 8.8MB 3197ms 0ms cpython 3.13.2

spectral-norm

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 1.lua 4066ms 6.0ms 2.5MB 4057ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 2.4MB 4990ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 14.8MB 30ms 10ms cpython 3.13.2
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 95.8MB 803ms 87ms pypy 3.10.16
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 14.2MB 40ms 10ms pyston 3.8.12

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 1.lua 1030ms 16ms 2.4MB 1020ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 2.1MB 4990ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 14.3MB 47ms 13ms cpython 3.13.2
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 96.3MB 1323ms 190ms pypy 3.10.16
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 13.6MB 63ms 20ms pyston 3.8.12

Input: 2000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 1.lua 261ms 2.6ms 2.3MB 250ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 8-m.py 1978ms 5.9ms 93.1MB 6363ms 257ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 2.1MB 4990ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 14.0MB 90ms 17ms cpython 3.13.2
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 13.2MB 130ms 40ms pyston 3.8.12