ImprovedSource - PHP v5.2 vs PHP v5.1

PHP v5.2 vs PHP v5.1
by Cory Rauch 2006-11-13 Category: Web-Performance

With the release of latest version of PHP, v5.2, one the biggest improvements where performance enhancements. So I decided to benchmark v5.2 vs v5.1 to see the impact of the new changes since I think many are looking forward to this release.

The benchmark was conducted on one computer where I first loaded PHP 5.1.6 then PHP 5.2.0, and only the PHP software changed. This benchmark was based on the PHP Benchmark suite available here:

http://phplens.com/benchmark_suite/

Note: All results displayed in seconds, so basically you always want a smaller number.

Note: Both PHP versions where on Apache 2.0.53. Ubuntu's PHP 5.1.6 binary package was used for 5.1, and PHP 5.2.0 was compiled from source using default options (-02 Optimization).

The Results

First I ran the Algorithms tests in the Benchmark Suite.

Encoding text data with base64 and utf8_encode
PHP 5.1.6: base64	0.1461	utf8_encode	0.2423
PHP 5.2.0: base64	0.1865	utf8_encode	0.2384

Encoding binary data with base64 and utf8_encode
PHP 5.1.6: base64	0.3142	utf8_encode	1.2548
PHP 5.2.0: base64	0.3006	utf8_encode	0.9067

Encoding binary data with base64 and rawurlencode
PHP 5.1.6: base64	0.3114	rawurlencode	0.9455
PHP 5.2.0: base64	0.2913	rawurlencode	0.7426

Comparing checksums with crc32 and md5
PHP 5.1.6: crc32	0.0010	md5	0.0077
PHP 5.2.0: crc32	0.0009	md5	0.0066

Reading a binary file
PHP 5.1.6: fopen-fread-fclose x1.01 faster	0.0622	file_get_contents	0.0631
PHP 5.2.0: fopen-fread-fclose	0.0638	file_get_contents	0.0509

Testing parse_ini_file vs assoc arrays (see http://www.sitepoint.com/blog-post-view.php?id=154126)
PHP 5.1.6: parse_ini_file	0.0580	assoc	0.0762
PHP 5.2.0: parse_ini_file	0.0607	assoc	0.0705

As you can see from the results above, PHP 5.2 won 9 out of 12 tests. The biggest performance advantage came in the utf8_encode on binary data test, PHP 5.2 took about 30% less time to complete. Now we will go to the functions tests.

Strings: Call by ref vs call by value for 1 char string
PHP 5.1.6: Call by Ref	0.0018	Call by Value	0.0016
PHP 5.2.0: Call by Ref	0.0017	Call by Value	0.0016

Strings: Call by ref vs call by value for 10K string
PHP 5.1.6: Call by Ref	0.0065	Call by Value	0.0056
PHP 5.2.0: Call by Ref	0.0084	Call by Value	0.0055

Strings: Call by ref vs call by value for 100K string
PHP 5.1.6: Call by Ref	0.0439	Call by Value	0.0512
PHP 5.2.0: Call by Ref	0.1730	Call by Value	0.1637

Arrays: Call by ref vs call by value
PHP 5.1.6: Call by Ref	0.0014	Call by Value	0.0173
PHP 5.2.0: Call by Ref	0.0016	Call by Value	0.0160

Objects: Call by ref vs call by value
PHP 5.1.6: Call by Ref	0.0039	Call by Value	0.0064
PHP 5.2.0: Call by Ref	0.0040	Call by Value	0.0044

Objects: Return by ref vs by value
PHP 5.1.6: Return by Ref $x =& $f()	0.0009	Return by Value	0.0013
PHP 5.2.0: Return by Ref $x =& $f()	0.0011	Return by Value	0.0013

Objects: Return by partial ref vs by value
PHP 5.1.6: Return by Partial Ref $x = f()	0.0012	Return by Value	0.0013
PHP 5.2.0: Return by Partial Ref $x = f()	0.0012	Return by Value	0.0013

Strings: Calling function with short vs long name
PHP 5.1.6: 1 char function name	0.0003	long 72 char function name	0.0006
PHP 5.2.0: 1 char function name	0.0004	long 72 char function name	0.0008

One the functions test the story is a little different. Where PHP 5.2 won on 4 out of 16 test, tied with PHP 5.1.6 on 4 test, and PHP 5.1.6 won out on 8 tests. Particularly the “Call by ref vs call by value for 100K string” test was interesting since PHP 5.1.6 took half the amount of time. Next on to the regex tests.

Searching for substring with strpos vs perl-style regex
PHP 5.1.6: strpos	0.0015	preg_match	0.0032
PHP 5.2.0: strpos	0.0015	preg_match	0.0064

Searching for substring with perl-style regex vs ereg
PHP 5.1.6: preg_match	0.0027	ereg	0.0100
PHP 5.2.0: preg_match	0.0024	ereg	0.0069

Regular expression is a tad faster in PHP 5.2.0, winning out on 2 our 4 tests. With one tie and one loss left over. Next to the exception handling tests.

Testing PHP5 exceptions (with 1 throw)
PHP 5.1.6: No exceptions	0.0006	With exceptions - throw 1 exception	0.0236
PHP 5.2.0: No exceptions	0.0012	With exceptions - throw 1 exception	0.0208

Testing PHP5 exceptions (no throw)
PHP 5.1.6: No exception code	0.0005	With exception code which is never invoked	0.0010
PHP 5.2.0: No exception code	0.0006	With exception code which is never invoked	0.0010

PHP v5.2.0 wins on 1 test, and 1 tie. Though PHP 5.1.6 wins on two tests. Next the loops test.

50 ints array - Testing for loop with -- and ++
PHP 5.1.6: for (--)	0.0494	for(++)	0.0475
PHP 5.2.0: for (--)	0.0493	for(++)	0.0470

50 ints array - Testing for loop with more complicated -- and ++
PHP 5.1.6: for (--)	0.0494	for(++)	0.0494
PHP 5.2.0: for (--)	0.0414	for(++)	0.0552

50 ints array - foreach (no keys) versus for
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0326	For	0.0504
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0248	For	0.0422

50 ints array - foreach (no keys) versus reset and next
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0308	Reset-Next	0.0501
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0327	Reset-Next	0.0509

50 ints array - foreach (no keys) vs list(Â¸$v)=each
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0258	List-Each	0.1060
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0250	List-Each	0.1088

50 ints array - foreach (with keys) vs list($kÂ¸$v)=each
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0340	List-Each	0.1175
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0293	List-Each	0.1204

Testing foreach versus array_map with php function with 50 int element array
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0264	Array_Map	0.0583
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0241	Array_Map	0.0707

50 strings array - Testing for loop with -- and ++
PHP 5.1.6: for (--)	0.0392	for(++)	0.0444
PHP 5.2.0: for (--)	0.0424	for(++)	0.0572

50 ints array - Testing for loop with more complicated -- and ++
PHP 5.1.6: for (--)	0.0409	for(++)	0.0485
PHP 5.2.0: for (--)	0.0382	for(++)	0.0409

50 strings array - foreach (no keys) versus for(++)
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0266	For	0.0452
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0247	For	0.0504

50 strings array - foreach (no keys) versus reset and next
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0263	Reset-Next	0.0652
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0292	Reset-Next	0.0585

50 strings array - foreach (no keys) vs list(Â¸$v)=each
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0262	List-Each	0.1103
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0248	List-Each	0.1102

50 strings array - foreach (with keys) vs list($kÂ¸$v)=each
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0322	List-Each	0.1179
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0318	List-Each	0.1284

Testing foreach versus array_map with php function with 50 string element array
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0544	Array_Map	0.0281
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0652	Array_Map	0.0316

Testing foreach with crc32 versus array_map with php function with 50 element array
PHP 5.1.6: Foreach	0.0815	Array_Map	0.0676
PHP 5.2.0: Foreach	0.0798	Array_Map	0.0631

PHP 5.2.0 wins on 17 out 30 test. Next up the Variables test.

Reading CONSTANTS versus Global Variables
PHP 5.1.6: Constants	0.0003	Globals	0.0063
PHP 5.2.0: Constants	0.0005	Globals	0.0005

+ vs += integer operators
PHP 5.1.6: + integer	0.0005	+= integer	0.0003
PHP 5.2.0: + integer	0.0007	+= integer	0.0006

+ vs += string operators
PHP 5.1.6: + strings	0.0018	+= strings	0.0012
PHP 5.2.0: + strings	0.0016	+= strings	0.0047

+= vs + string operators
PHP 5.1.6: += strings	0.0013	+ strings	0.0012
PHP 5.2.0: += strings	0.0017	+ strings	0.0017

short vs long variable names
PHP 5.1.6: short var name (1 char)	0.0012	long var name (72 chars)	0.0007
PHP 5.2.0: short var name (1 char)	0.0003	long var name (72 chars)	0.0004

PHP 5.2.0 wins out on 3 out of 10 test. Particularly the reading of GLOBALS is faster. PHP 5.1.6 wins on 6 test though.

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Cool Example of Java and Javascript working together
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