From 2610b8cf56785ac5ea9b1aba478c05800ace2c4b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Aleksey Shakhmatov <dev@shakhmatov.com>
Date: Thu, 21 May 2026 08:13:28 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] docs: bundled example benchmark suite
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Examples covering the main usage patterns:

- bench_append_u8: per-iteration heap work, demonstrates B/op tracking
  via the wrapped allocator.
- bench_sha256_64: set_bytes() for throughput in MB/s.
- bench_integer_sum: shows the optimization pitfall with a comment —
  trivial loop bodies need an in-loop b.keep to survive ReleaseFast.
- bench_hash_sizes: parent that delegates to sub-benchmarks via b.run,
  printed as `hash_sizes/sha256_<size>`.
- memset_{16,256,4096}: comptime-parametric benchmark generation via
  std.fmt.comptimePrint + a generic gen_bench factory.

Includes a stand-alone examples/bench/build.zig illustrating the
zbench_build.add_bench_step integration a downstream project would use.
---
 examples/bench/build.zig |  26 ++++++++++
 examples/bench/main.zig  | 100 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 126 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 examples/bench/build.zig
 create mode 100644 examples/bench/main.zig

diff --git a/examples/bench/build.zig b/examples/bench/build.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa90654
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/bench/build.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+//! Stand-alone build for the example, illustrating how a downstream project
+//! wires up `zig build bench` using the `zbench_build` helper.
+//!
+//! Note: when building the example from the zbench repo root via
+//! `zig build example`, this file is unused — the root `build.zig` wires
+//! it up directly. This file demonstrates the integration pattern for a
+//! consumer project that lists `zbench` as a dependency.
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const zbench_build = @import("zbench_build");
+
+pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
+    const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{});
+
+    const zbench = b.dependency("zbench", .{
+        .target = target,
+        .optimize = .ReleaseFast,
+    });
+
+    _ = zbench_build.add_bench_step(b, .{
+        .step_name = "bench",
+        .root = b.path("main.zig"),
+        .target = target,
+        .zbench = zbench.module("zbench"),
+    });
+}
diff --git a/examples/bench/main.zig b/examples/bench/main.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3abccb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/bench/main.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const zbench = @import("zbench");
+
+pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
+    var suite = zbench.Suite.init(init.gpa, init.io);
+    defer suite.deinit();
+
+    try suite.add("append_u8", bench_append_u8);
+    try suite.add("sha256_64", bench_sha256_64);
+    try suite.add("integer_sum", bench_integer_sum);
+    try suite.add("hash_sizes", bench_hash_sizes);
+
+    // Comptime-parametric pattern: synthesize a benchmark per size.
+    inline for (.{ 16, 256, 4096 }) |size| {
+        try suite.add(
+            std.fmt.comptimePrint("memset_{d}", .{size}),
+            gen_bench_memset(size),
+        );
+    }
+
+    try suite.run_cli(init);
+}
+
+fn bench_append_u8(b: *zbench.Benchmark) !void {
+    var list: std.ArrayListUnmanaged(u8) = .empty;
+    defer list.deinit(b.allocator);
+
+    b.reset_timer();
+    var i: u64 = 0;
+    while (i < b.n) : (i += 1) {
+        try list.append(b.allocator, @intCast(i & 0xff));
+    }
+    b.keep(list.items);
+}
+
+fn bench_sha256_64(b: *zbench.Benchmark) !void {
+    var buf: [64]u8 = @splat(0xab);
+
+    b.reset_timer();
+    var out: [32]u8 = undefined;
+    var i: u64 = 0;
+    while (i < b.n) : (i += 1) {
+        std.crypto.hash.sha2.Sha256.hash(&buf, &out, .{});
+        b.keep(out);
+    }
+    b.set_bytes(buf.len);
+}
+
+// Demonstrates how the compiler will erase trivial work in ReleaseFast unless
+// the result is observed *inside* the loop. With `b.keep(sum)` at the end of
+// each iteration the optimizer cannot prove the value is dead and is forced
+// to keep the computation. Try removing the inner `b.keep` to see ns/op
+// collapse to ~0.
+fn bench_integer_sum(b: *zbench.Benchmark) !void {
+    b.reset_timer();
+    var sum: u64 = 0;
+    var i: u64 = 0;
+    while (i < b.n) : (i += 1) {
+        sum +%= i *% 31;
+        b.keep(sum);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Sub-benchmark example: one parent, multiple children.
+fn bench_hash_sizes(b: *zbench.Benchmark) !void {
+    try b.run("sha256_16", gen_bench_sha256(16));
+    try b.run("sha256_256", gen_bench_sha256(256));
+    try b.run("sha256_4096", gen_bench_sha256(4096));
+}
+
+fn gen_bench_sha256(comptime size: usize) zbench.BenchFn {
+    return struct {
+        fn run(b: *zbench.Benchmark) !void {
+            var buf: [size]u8 = @splat(0xcd);
+            var out: [32]u8 = undefined;
+            b.reset_timer();
+            var i: u64 = 0;
+            while (i < b.n) : (i += 1) {
+                std.crypto.hash.sha2.Sha256.hash(&buf, &out, .{});
+                b.keep(out);
+            }
+            b.set_bytes(size);
+        }
+    }.run;
+}
+
+fn gen_bench_memset(comptime size: usize) zbench.BenchFn {
+    return struct {
+        fn run(b: *zbench.Benchmark) !void {
+            var buf: [size]u8 = undefined;
+            b.reset_timer();
+            var i: u64 = 0;
+            while (i < b.n) : (i += 1) {
+                @memset(&buf, @intCast(i & 0xff));
+                b.keep(buf);
+            }
+            b.set_bytes(size);
+        }
+    }.run;
+}