Golang - Benchmark of new vs reflect.New.

reflect_test.go

package main_test

import (
	"reflect"
	"testing"
)

type fluff struct {
	Name string
}

func Benchmark_reflection(b *testing.B) {
	var arg *fluff
	argv := reflect.TypeOf(fluff{})

	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
		argn := reflect.New(argv)
		arg, _ = argn.Interface().(*fluff)
		arg.Name = "Bob"
	}
}

func Benchmark_new(b *testing.B) {
	var arg *fluff // think this is necessary for escape analysis

	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
		arg = new(fluff)
		arg.Name = "Bob"
	}
}

results

$ go test -bench . reflect_test.go  # uBenchmarks silliness in a box
testing: warning: no tests to run
PASS
Benchmark_reflection	20000000	       110 ns/op
Benchmark_new	30000000	        57.7 ns/op
ok  	command-line-arguments	4.125s