Why Benchmarking is important, lets try in .Net 8.0

As a developer, I constantly strive to optimize the performance of my applications. Benchmarking is a needed step in this optimization process, allowing us to measure and compare the performance of different pieces of code. With the release of .NET 8.0, new features and enhancements have made benchmarking more powerful and easier to use. In this blog post, I will demonstrate how to effectively benchmark your .NET 8.0 applications using BenchmarkDotNet package.

If you are interested to see the running demonstration of benchmarking in .net 8, checkout this video tutorial.

Why Benchmarking?

I will come to the how part later but the first thing is why that should matter, because it helps us to do:

1. Performance Optimization : Identifying bottlenecks and improving the efficiency of your code.
2. Comparative Analysis : Evaluating different implementations to find the most efficient one.
3. Regression Detection : Ensuring that new changes do not degrade performance.

Getting Started with BenchmarkDotNet

The most popular and robust library for benchmarking in .NET is BenchmarkDotNet. It provides a comprehensive framework to measure the performance of your code accurately. To get started, follow these steps:

1. Install BenchmarkDotNet : Add the BenchmarkDotNet NuGet package to your project:

dotnet add package BenchmarkDotNet

2. Create a Benchmark Class:

Define a class with methods you want to benchmark. Annotate the class with [MemoryDiagnoser] to measure memory allocation:

using BenchmarkDotNet.Attributes;
using BenchmarkDotNet.Running;

public class MyBenchmarks
{
    [Benchmark]
    public void Method1()
    {
        // Your code here
    }

    [Benchmark]
    public void Method2()
    {
        // Your code here
    }
}

public class Program
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var summary = BenchmarkRunner.Run();
    }
}

3. Run the Benchmark : Execute your application to run the benchmarks and view the results.

Advanced Benchmarking Techniques

Parameterized Benchmarks

You can use parameters to run benchmarks with different inputs. This is useful for testing various scenarios without duplicating code.




public class ParameterizedBenchmarks
{
    [Params(100, 1000, 10000)]
    public int N;

    [Benchmark]
    public void ProcessData()
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
        {
            // Simulate work
        }
    }
}




Benchmark Configurations

BenchmarkDotNet allows extensive customization through configuration. You can specify options like warmup count, iteration count, and export formats.




public class ConfiguredBenchmarks
{
    [Benchmark]
    public void Method()
    {
        // Your code here
    }
}

public class Program
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var config = ManualConfig.Create(DefaultConfig.Instance)
            .WithOptions(ConfigOptions.DisableOptimizationsValidator)
            .AddColumn(StatisticColumn.AllStatistics);

        var summary = BenchmarkRunner.Run(config);
    }
}




Analyzing Benchmark Results

After running your benchmarks, BenchmarkDotNet generates detailed reports, including:

1. Mean Time : The average time taken for the benchmarked method to execute.
2. Median Time : The middle value in the dataset of execution times.
3. Memory Usage : The amount of memory allocated during the execution.
4. Garbage Collections : Information about GC invocations during the benchmark.

Best Practices for Benchmarking

1. Isolate Benchmarks : Ensure benchmarks are isolated from other processes to avoid interference.
2. Consistent Environment : Run benchmarks in a consistent environment to minimize external factors.
3. Warmup Iterations : Use warmup iterations to ensure JIT compilation doesn't skew results.
4. Avoid Premature Optimization : Focus on optimizing code that profiling identifies as performance-critical.




Conclusion

Benchmarking is an essential practice for any serious developer aiming to optimize its application performance. With .NET 8.0 and BenchmarkDotNet, we can measure and enhance the efficiency of our code. By following the guidelines and techniques outlined in this blog post, we can ensure that our .NET applications are running at their best.