Programming Language and compiler
Benchmarks

Lua VS Python benchmarks

Current benchmark data was generated on Sun Jun 01 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 1209ms 11ms 96.2MB 1140ms 50ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua 3411ms 55ms 172.9MB 3287ms 110ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 104.9MB 4947ms 37ms lua 5.4.7
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 40.9MB 4973ms 13ms cpython 3.13.3
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 40.7MB 4747ms 240ms pyston 3.8.12

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
python 1.py 97ms 3.0ms 68.8MB 70ms 13ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua 287ms 0.8ms 15.8MB 267ms 7ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 1.py 478ms 6.6ms 11.9MB 453ms 13ms pyston 3.8.12
python 1.py 737ms 8.4ms 12.8MB 723ms 0ms cpython 3.13.3
lua 1.lua 818ms 12ms 16.9MB 803ms 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 1.3ms 0.1ms 2.1MB 0ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
lua 1.lua 1.4ms 0.2ms 2.4MB 0ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 1.py 12ms 0.9ms 7.6MB 0ms 0ms pyston 3.8.12
python 1.py 14ms 1.3ms 8.6MB 10ms 0ms cpython 3.13.3
python 1.py 29ms 1.0ms 51.7MB 10ms 8ms pypy 3.10.16

merkletrees

Input: 17

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
python 1.py 2223ms 4.3ms 202.6MB 2110ms 100ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 107.4MB 4947ms 37ms lua 5.4.7
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 149.3MB 4927ms 57ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 94.0MB 4950ms 37ms cpython 3.13.3
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 130.4MB 4933ms 53ms pyston 3.8.12

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
python 1.py 380ms 0.7ms 104.8MB 320ms 43ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua 1103ms 2.6ms 31.0MB 1073ms 17ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
lua 1.lua 2131ms 17ms 28.6MB 2113ms 7ms lua 5.4.7
python 1.py 2901ms 23ms 37.3MB 2873ms 13ms cpython 3.13.3
python 1.py timeout 0.0ms 48.9MB 4943ms 43ms pyston 3.8.12

nbody

Input: 5000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 4.lua 713ms 2.3ms 2.3MB 707ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 2.py 1361ms 8.4ms 60.3MB 1333ms 10ms pypy 3.10.16
python 1.py 2648ms 10ms 57.1MB 2623ms 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 8.9MB 4990ms 0ms cpython 3.13.3
python 2.py timeout 0.0ms 8.9MB 4990ms 0ms cpython 3.13.3
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 75ms 0.3ms 2.3MB 70ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 2.py 180ms 3.2ms 58.1MB 153ms 13ms pypy 3.10.16
python 1.py 303ms 4.6ms 57.1MB 280ms 10ms pypy 3.10.16
python 1.py 943ms 20ms 8.3MB 933ms 0ms pyston 3.8.12
lua 4.lua 1123ms 35ms 2.3MB 1117ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
python 2.py 1311ms 6.8ms 8.3MB 1300ms 0ms pyston 3.8.12
python 1.py 3029ms 49ms 8.9MB 3017ms 0ms cpython 3.13.3
python 2.py 3194ms 81ms 8.9MB 3183ms 0ms cpython 3.13.3

spectral-norm

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 1.lua 4062ms 9.7ms 2.5MB 4053ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 2.5MB 4990ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 14.8MB 40ms 10ms cpython 3.13.3
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 95.2MB 787ms 80ms pypy 3.10.16
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 14.2MB 37ms 10ms pyston 3.8.12

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 1.lua 1019ms 1.0ms 2.4MB 1010ms 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 14.6MB 50ms 10ms cpython 3.13.3
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 96.8MB 1343ms 173ms pypy 3.10.16
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 13.6MB 53ms 23ms pyston 3.8.12

Input: 2000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
lua 1.lua 259ms 2.2ms 2.3MB 250ms 0ms luajit 2.1.0-beta3
python 8-m.py 1961ms 11ms 93.0MB 6377ms 250ms pypy 3.10.16
lua 1.lua timeout 0.0ms 2.0MB 4990ms 0ms lua 5.4.7
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 14.3MB 90ms 17ms cpython 3.13.3
python 8.py timeout 0.0ms 13.2MB 153ms 37ms pyston 3.8.12