Programming Language and compiler
Benchmarks

Zig VS Kotlin 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
kotlin 1.kt 507ms 12ms 574.5MB 603ms 97ms kotlin/jvm 21
zig 1.zig 1718ms 14ms 49.0MB 1683ms 20ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 3832ms 23ms 145.7MB 4013ms 63ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
kotlin 1.kt 124ms 1.0ms 159.2MB 150ms 27ms kotlin/jvm 21
zig 1.zig 150ms 2.1ms 7.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 208ms 3.8ms 17.6MB 217ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

edigits

Input: 250001

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 2257ms 7.3ms 2.5MB 2230ms 10ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 100000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 384ms 5.4ms 1.9MB 370ms 0ms 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 638ms 2.2ms 1.4MB 2400ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 3-i.zig 1764ms 0.6ms 1.0MB 1753ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 2716ms 5.8ms 1.0MB 2707ms 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 60ms 0.3ms 1.4MB 200ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 3-i.zig 147ms 0.4ms 1.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 229ms 0.8ms 1.0MB 220ms 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 87ms 1.4ms 1.0MB 80ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 250000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 10ms 0.1ms 1.0MB 0ms 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 1.1ms 0.4ms 1.1MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 2.2ms 0.1ms 3.1MB 0ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1.kt 62ms 0.6ms 47.7MB 74ms 16ms kotlin/jvm 21

knucleotide

Input: 2500000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1-m.zig 314ms 1.1ms 66.5MB 827ms 30ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 500ms 5.4ms 28.0MB 483ms 7ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 250000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1-m.zig 63ms 0.5ms 54.3MB 123ms 33ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 66ms 1.0ms 15.5MB 50ms 0ms 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 35ms 0.8ms 2.8MB 30ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 2.kt 166ms 3.8ms 12.4MB 170ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1-m.kt 195ms 3.4ms 95.1MB 327ms 27ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 2-m.kt 200ms 3.1ms 102.1MB 437ms 40ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 1.kt 355ms 2.4ms 12.4MB 353ms 3ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

Input: 1000 3000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 95ms 3.4ms 2.8MB 87ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 2-m.kt 317ms 3.3ms 213.3MB 553ms 43ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 1.kt 340ms 3.7ms 203.0MB 463ms 37ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 2.kt 474ms 2.5ms 12.4MB 500ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1.kt 1041ms 16ms 12.5MB 1067ms 3ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

Input: 100 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 15ms 0.4ms 1.3MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 2.kt 94ms 0.9ms 12.8MB 83ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1.kt 120ms 0.5ms 12.8MB 110ms 3ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1-m.kt 153ms 0.0ms 90.8MB 303ms 23ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 2-m.kt 161ms 4.6ms 96.1MB 343ms 30ms kotlin/jvm 21

mandelbrot

Input: 5000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 247ms 0.8ms 4.1MB 240ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 1000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 12ms 0.2ms 1.1MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

merkletrees

Input: 17

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
kotlin 1.kt 384ms 3.9ms 680.1MB 450ms 87ms kotlin/jvm 21
zig 1.zig 856ms 8.4ms 41.0MB 830ms 10ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 1811ms 15ms 89.9MB 1887ms 43ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
kotlin 1-m.kt 158ms 4.9ms 207.2MB 210ms 43ms kotlin/jvm 21
zig 1.zig 178ms 3.3ms 11.0MB 167ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 255ms 3.0ms 25.3MB 260ms 10ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

nbody

Input: 5000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 198ms 1.0ms 1.0MB 190ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 279ms 0.5ms 1.0MB 270ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 315ms 0.7ms 1.1MB 310ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1n.kt 349ms 0.4ms 3.5MB 340ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1.kt 446ms 2.7ms 49.3MB 490ms 20ms kotlin/jvm 21

Input: 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 21ms 0.2ms 1.0MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 30ms 0.1ms 1.0MB 20ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 34ms 0.6ms 1.1MB 30ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1n.kt 38ms 0.7ms 3.5MB 30ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1-m.kt 119ms 0.7ms 49.6MB 163ms 20ms kotlin/jvm 21

nsieve

Input: 12

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 255ms 8.2ms 40.2MB 240ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 328ms 2.8ms 6.0MB 320ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 10

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 55ms 1.4ms 10.9MB 43ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 81ms 1.1ms 2.3MB 70ms 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 2458ms 11ms 2.3MB 2430ms 17ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 3710ms 30ms 353.2MB 4553ms 117ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 1n.kt timeout 0.0ms 26.7MB 3983ms 1510ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 2n.kt timeout 0.0ms 30.6MB 5117ms 133ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 565ms 4.7ms 1.8MB 553ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1-m.kt 975ms 38ms 365.7MB 1740ms 93ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 1n.kt timeout 0.0ms 26.3MB 3980ms 1510ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 2n.kt timeout 0.0ms 30.6MB 5123ms 113ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

spectral-norm

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 3684ms 1.8ms 1.4MB 3670ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 927ms 2.1ms 1.3MB 920ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 2000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 232ms 0.3ms 1.3MB 220ms 0ms zig 0.14.1