localshred/protobuf vs protobuf-ruby/beefcake

README.md

Overview:

• speed 'champ': protobuf
• namespacing: protobuf (beefcake doesn't support it 'out of the box')
• rubyness: beefcake by a nose

notes:

• performance isn't everything, though I was surprised how much protobuf seemed to be ahead. These are very basic benchmarks, and your milage may, and probably will (!), vary. I noticed without strings protobuf was about 1/2 faster, but when including strings, that dropped to about 1/3 faster.
• I like namespacing. If I'm going to go through the 'hassle' of putting a schema and DSL onto my wire definitions, then namespacing is more than a nice-to-have. Beefcake has a way to add it during build-time via the shell ENV, but protobuf wins a bit by just getting 'er done.
• rubyness: beefcake strikes me as a tad cleaner in its auto-generated classes. Plus it just does one thing, but does it well... protobuf tries to include encoding/decoding, json, as well as RPC mechanisms. I don't mind that, but it does add a bit of extra 'heft' to the protobuf gem.

I ended up going with protobuf for its better documentation, slight ease-of-use, and project activity. But it is nice to know that switching between the two is pretty simple!

beefcake_benchmark.out

                       user     system      total        real
setter_to_hash:    0.090000   0.000000   0.090000 (  0.095632)
setter_enocode_s:  0.300000   0.000000   0.300000 (  0.318015)
new_encode_s:      0.330000   0.010000   0.340000 (  0.344149)
new_encode:        0.300000   0.000000   0.300000 (  0.310616)
setter_enocode_s:  0.290000   0.000000   0.290000 (  0.295217)
new_encode_s:      0.320000   0.010000   0.330000 (  0.322100)
new_encode:        0.330000   0.000000   0.330000 (  0.337682)

beefcake_benchmark.rb

require "benchmark"
require 'beefcake'
require_relative 'lib/error_beefcake.pb'

Benchmark.bm(16) do |x|
  x.report("setter_to_hash:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Error.new
      e.type = Error::ErrorType::API
      e.status = Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST
      e.message = 'and my name is adam'
      e.to_hash
    end
  end
  x.report("setter_enocode_s:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Error.new
      e.type = Error::ErrorType::API
      e.status = Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST
      e.message = 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode.to_s
    end
  end
  x.report("new_encode_s:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Error.new type: Error::ErrorType::API, status: Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST, message: 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode.to_s
    end
  end
  x.report("new_encode:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Error.new type: Error::ErrorType::API, status: Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST, message: 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode
    end
  end
  x.report("setter_enocode_s:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Error.new
      e.type = Error::ErrorType::API
      e.status = Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST
      e.message = 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode.to_s
    end
  end
  x.report("new_encode_s:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Error.new type: Error::ErrorType::API, status: Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST, message: 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode.to_s
    end
  end
  x.report("new_encode:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Error.new type: Error::ErrorType::API, status: Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST, message: 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode
    end
  end
end

error_beefcake.rb

## Generated from capsci/error.proto for capsci
require "beefcake"


class Error
  include Beefcake::Message

  module ErrorType
    NONE = 0
    API = 1
    INVALID_REQUEST = 2
    WORK = 3
  end

  module StatusType
    OK = 0
    CREATED = 1
    BAD_REQUEST = 5
    UNAUTHORIZED = 6
    REQUEST_FAILED = 7
    NOT_FOUND = 8
    INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR = 10
    BAD_GATEWAY = 11
    SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE = 12
    GATEWAY_TIMEOUT = 13
  end
end

class Error
  required :type, Error::ErrorType, 1, :default => Error::ErrorType::API
  required :status, Error::StatusType, 2, :default => Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST
  optional :request_id, :string, 5
  optional :message, :string, 6
end

error_protobuf.pb

# encoding: utf-8

##
# This file is auto-generated. DO NOT EDIT!
#
require 'protobuf/message'

module Capsci

  ##
  # Message Classes
  #
  class Error < ::Protobuf::Message
    class ErrorType < ::Protobuf::Enum
      define :NONE, 0
      define :API, 1
      define :INVALID_REQUEST, 2
      define :WORK, 3
    end

    class StatusType < ::Protobuf::Enum
      define :OK, 0
      define :CREATED, 1
      define :BAD_REQUEST, 5
      define :UNAUTHORIZED, 6
      define :REQUEST_FAILED, 7
      define :NOT_FOUND, 8
      define :INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, 10
      define :BAD_GATEWAY, 11
      define :SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, 12
      define :GATEWAY_TIMEOUT, 13
    end

  end



  ##
  # Message Fields
  #
  class Error
    required ::Capsci::Error::ErrorType, :type, 1, :default => ::Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API
    required ::Capsci::Error::StatusType, :status, 2, :default => ::Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST
    optional :string, :request_id, 5
    optional :string, :message, 6
  end

end

protobuf_benchmark.out

                       user     system      total        real
setter_to_hash:    0.090000   0.000000   0.090000 (  0.092572)
setter_enocode_s:  0.210000   0.000000   0.210000 (  0.220693)
new_encode_s:      0.240000   0.010000   0.250000 (  0.257145)
new_encode:        0.240000   0.000000   0.240000 (  0.249320)
setter_enocode_s:  0.220000   0.000000   0.220000 (  0.244635)
new_encode_s:      0.270000   0.010000   0.280000 (  0.275617)
new_encode:        0.250000   0.000000   0.250000 (  0.263240)
setter_json:       0.340000   0.000000   0.340000 (  0.347016)
new_json:          0.380000   0.010000   0.390000 (  0.398045)

protobuf_benchmark.rb

require "benchmark"
require 'protobuf'
require_relative 'lib/capsci/error_protobuf.pb'


Benchmark.bm(16) do |x|
  x.report("setter_to_hash:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Capsci::Error.new
      e.type = Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API
      e.status = Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST
      e.message = 'and my name is adam'
      e.to_hash
    end
  end
  x.report("setter_enocode_s:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Capsci::Error.new
      e.type = Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API
      e.status = Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST
      e.message = 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode.to_s
    end
  end
  x.report("new_encode_s:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Capsci::Error.new type: Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API, status: Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST, message: 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode.to_s
    end
  end
  x.report("new_encode:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Capsci::Error.new type: Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API, status: Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST, message: 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode
    end
  end
  x.report("setter_enocode_s:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Capsci::Error.new
      e.type = Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API
      e.status = Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST
      e.message = 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode.to_s
    end
  end
  x.report("new_encode_s:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Capsci::Error.new type: Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API, status: Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST, message: 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode.to_s
    end
  end
  x.report("new_encode:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Capsci::Error.new type: Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API, status: Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST, message: 'and my name is adam'
      e.encode
    end
  end
  x.report("setter_json:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Capsci::Error.new
      e.type = Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API
      e.status = Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST
      e.message = 'and my name is adam'
      e.to_json
    end
  end
  x.report("new_json:") do
    (1..10000).each do
      e = Capsci::Error.new type: Capsci::Error::ErrorType::API, status: Capsci::Error::StatusType::BAD_REQUEST, message: 'and my name is adam'
      e.to_json
    end
  end

end