Programming Language and compiler
Benchmarks

Zig VS Kotlin benchmarks

Current benchmark data was generated on Fri Aug 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 500ms 16ms 578.4MB 597ms 97ms kotlin/jvm 21
zig 1.zig 1735ms 12ms 49.0MB 1707ms 13ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 3911ms 6.4ms 143.8MB 4087ms 70ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
kotlin 1.kt 122ms 1.1ms 159.5MB 143ms 37ms kotlin/jvm 21
zig 1.zig 150ms 1.6ms 7.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 203ms 6.2ms 17.3MB 210ms 3ms 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 2263ms 4.3ms 2.5MB 2233ms 10ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 100000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 379ms 2.3ms 1.9MB 363ms 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 639ms 3.6ms 1.4MB 2410ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 3-i.zig 1763ms 1.4ms 1.0MB 1753ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 2716ms 2.1ms 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 59ms 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 0.3ms 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 89ms 0.7ms 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 11ms 0.7ms 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 0.9ms 0.0ms 1.1MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 2.2ms 0.2ms 3.0MB 0ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1.kt 61ms 0.9ms 47.6MB 74ms 18ms 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 317ms 5.6ms 67.2MB 830ms 27ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 501ms 8.6ms 28.1MB 480ms 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 0.7ms 54.3MB 127ms 30ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 67ms 2.5ms 15.4MB 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 33ms 1.4ms 2.8MB 23ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 2.kt 171ms 9.2ms 12.4MB 170ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1-m.kt 194ms 4.6ms 95.0MB 323ms 27ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 2-m.kt 206ms 5.2ms 102.2MB 433ms 37ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 1.kt 357ms 1.0ms 12.4MB 360ms 0ms 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 94ms 3.0ms 2.8MB 87ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 2-m.kt 315ms 6.1ms 212.8MB 547ms 43ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 1.kt 338ms 2.0ms 202.9MB 467ms 40ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 2.kt 473ms 5.4ms 12.4MB 500ms 3ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1.kt 1048ms 9.4ms 12.4MB 1077ms 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 0.5ms 1.3MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 2.kt 94ms 0.9ms 12.8MB 90ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1.kt 121ms 1.5ms 12.8MB 113ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1-m.kt 153ms 0.7ms 90.8MB 290ms 33ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 2-m.kt 171ms 14ms 96.5MB 377ms 30ms kotlin/jvm 21

mandelbrot

Input: 5000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 248ms 0.3ms 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 0.1ms 1.1MB 0ms 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 386ms 5.6ms 680.7MB 433ms 93ms kotlin/jvm 21
zig 1.zig 860ms 0.1ms 41.0MB 830ms 13ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 1880ms 15ms 89.9MB 1963ms 40ms 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 154ms 0.3ms 207.3MB 210ms 40ms kotlin/jvm 21
zig 1.zig 179ms 1.9ms 11.0MB 163ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 268ms 4.1ms 25.6MB 273ms 13ms 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 0.5ms 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 0.9ms 1.1MB 310ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1n.kt 352ms 2.5ms 3.5MB 340ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1.kt 442ms 1.2ms 49.6MB 483ms 20ms kotlin/jvm 21

Input: 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 22ms 0.4ms 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 33ms 0.3ms 1.1MB 30ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1n.kt 39ms 0.6ms 3.5MB 30ms 0ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 1-m.kt 118ms 1.3ms 49.6MB 160ms 20ms kotlin/jvm 21

nsieve

Input: 12

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 267ms 6.8ms 40.2MB 250ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 328ms 0.3ms 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 1.6ms 10.9MB 43ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 81ms 1.3ms 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 2446ms 4.8ms 2.2MB 2420ms 10ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1.kt 3669ms 28ms 353.1MB 4487ms 113ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 1n.kt timeout 0.0ms 26.6MB 3973ms 1500ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 2n.kt timeout 0.0ms 30.9MB 5110ms 130ms kotlin/native 2.1.20

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 570ms 5.8ms 1.8MB 563ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
kotlin 1-m.kt 957ms 5.5ms 357.3MB 1767ms 90ms kotlin/jvm 21
kotlin 1n.kt timeout 0.0ms 26.8MB 3970ms 1513ms kotlin/native 2.1.20
kotlin 2n.kt timeout 0.0ms 30.6MB 5120ms 117ms 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 3687ms 4.1ms 1.4MB 3677ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 928ms 2.8ms 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