Compare json_view with yyjson, simdjson, and Boost.JSON

tests/benchmarks/json_view/ holds a comparison with other
libraries, answering the question users ask when they pick one.
It is not built by CMake and not run by CI.

- bench_view.cpp: parse, traverse, select and dump of twitter,
  citm_catalog, canada, jeopardy, a tweet and an RPC request,
  against json_view, yyjson, simdjson, Boost.JSON and json::parse,
  all agreeing and run interleaved.
- bench_corpus.cpp: parse, traverse and dump of any file list.
- bench_edit.cpp: parses, edits through each library's own API,
  and serializes; all outputs must describe the same value.
- compare.py: builds both programs with system or pinned,
  SHA-256-checked downloads, and writes results with the commit,
  CPU, OS, compiler and library versions.
- README.md and a workflow that runs on demand or via a PR label.

Fairness fixes folded in: each engine runs once untimed before
each timed round, so the next one no longer pays for the
previous one's cleanup; dump is also compared with source numbers
against yyjson's raw-number mode; a "simdjson DOM (fresh)" column
and a reused-document column for json_view were added;
compare.py's paths are absolute; downloads use a .part file and a
failed checksum removes the archive.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

.github/labeler.yml

@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ labels:
     - "single_include/nlohmann/json_view\\.hpp"
     - "tests/src/unit-json_view.*"
     - "tests/src/fuzzer-(parse_json_view|json_view_image)\\.cpp"
+    - "tests/benchmarks/json_view/.*"
     - "tools/amalgamate/config_json_view\\.json"
     - "docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view\\.md"
     - "docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_(document|view)/.*"

.github/workflows/json_view_benchmarks.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+name: "json_view benchmarks"
+
+# On demand only: runs the comparison of json_view with yyjson, simdjson, and
+# Boost.JSON (tests/benchmarks/json_view/compare.py) on GitHub-hosted runners,
+# for numbers from x86-64 and AArch64 Linux. It runs when started by hand, or
+# when a pull request gets the label "benchmark" (on both architectures, with
+# GCC and the default settings). Shared runners are noisy: the results show
+# where json_view stands, but published numbers need a quiet machine (see
+# tests/benchmarks/json_view/README.md).
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [labeled]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      runner:
+        description: "Runner image"
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - ubuntu-24.04
+          - ubuntu-24.04-arm
+        default: ubuntu-24.04
+      compiler:
+        description: "Compiler"
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - g++
+          - clang++
+        default: g++
+      native:
+        description: "Compile for the runner's CPU (-march=native)"
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
+      rounds:
+        description: "Rounds of bench_view"
+        type: number
+        default: 30
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  compare:
+    if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' || github.event.label.name == 'benchmark'
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        runner: ${{ fromJSON(github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && format('["{0}"]', inputs.runner) || '["ubuntu-24.04", "ubuntu-24.04-arm"]') }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Harden Runner
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@e14015d583714f6e62063499dc959a02595150a1 # v2.21.1
+        with:
+          egress-policy: audit
+
+      - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - name: Download test data
+        run: |
+          cmake -S . -B build -DJSON_BuildTests=On
+          cmake --build build --target download_test_data
+
+      - name: Run the comparison
+        env:
+          CXX: ${{ inputs.compiler || 'g++' }}
+          CC: ${{ inputs.compiler == 'clang++' && 'clang' || 'gcc' }}
+          ROUNDS: ${{ inputs.rounds || 30 }}
+          NATIVE: ${{ inputs.native && '--native' || '' }}
+        run: python3 tests/benchmarks/json_view/compare.py --data build/test_files --download --rounds "$ROUNDS" $NATIVE
+
+      - name: Summary
+        run: cat tests/benchmarks/json_view/results/*.md >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          name: json_view-benchmarks-${{ matrix.runner }}-${{ inputs.compiler || 'g++' }}
+          path: tests/benchmarks/json_view/results/

tests/benchmarks/json_view/.gitignore

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+build/

tests/benchmarks/json_view/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+# json_view compared with other libraries
+
+The in-tree benchmarks in [`tests/benchmarks`](../README.md) measure `json_document` against `json::parse` only. The
+programs here compare it with [yyjson](https://github.com/ibireme/yyjson),
+[simdjson](https://github.com/simdjson/simdjson), and [Boost.JSON](https://github.com/boostorg/json): the question
+users ask when they pick a library. They are not built by CMake or run by CI.
+
+## Reproducing the numbers
+
+`compare.py` builds the programs against `include/` of this checkout, runs them, and writes the results together with
+everything needed to reproduce them to `results/<date>-<host>.md` (and `.csv`): the date, the commit, the CPU, the
+OS, the compiler, the flags, and the versions of all libraries.
+
+```sh
+python3 tests/benchmarks/json_view/compare.py --data <json_test_data directory> [--native] [--rounds 30]
+```
+
+- `--data` is the downloaded [test data](https://github.com/nlohmann/json_test_data), e.g. the `test_files` directory
+  of a CMake build directory. It needs `nativejson-benchmark/{twitter,citm_catalog,canada}.json` and
+  `jeopardy/jeopardy.json`.
+- The other libraries come from the system: pkg-config, or Homebrew (`brew install yyjson simdjson boost`). With
+  `--download`, pinned releases are downloaded instead and checked against their SHA-256. Without Boost headers (or
+  with `--no-boost`), the Boost.JSON columns are skipped, and the results say so.
+- `--corpus file...` adds files to the corpus benchmark, e.g. those of
+  [simdjson-data](https://github.com/simdjson/simdjson-data) or the
+  [yyjson benchmark](https://github.com/ibireme/yyjson_benchmark).
+- Only the Python 3 standard library is used; a C++17 compiler is needed (`CXX` and `CC` are honored).
+
+For numbers worth publishing, use a quiet machine (see [Getting stable numbers](../README.md#getting-stable-numbers)),
+the default 30 rounds or more, and `--native` only if the other libraries were built for the same CPU.
+
+### On GitHub-hosted runners
+
+The workflow [json_view benchmarks](../../../.github/workflows/json_view_benchmarks.yml) runs `compare.py --download`
+on demand: by hand (Actions → "json_view benchmarks" → "Run workflow"), on an x86-64 or AArch64 Ubuntu runner with GCC
+or Clang, or when a pull request gets the label `benchmark`, on both architectures with GCC. The results appear as the
+job summary and as an artifact. Shared runners are noisy, so these numbers show
+where `json_view` stands on another architecture; they are not meant for publication.
+
+## What is measured
+
+`bench_view.cpp` runs four workloads on twitter, citm_catalog, canada, jeopardy, a single tweet (`status`), and a
+JSON-RPC request (`rpc`):
+
+| workload | what it does |
+|---|---|
+| parse | build and free a document |
+| traverse | parse, then visit every value, convert every number, touch every string and key |
+| select | parse, then read a few fields per record (e.g. id, user name, and retweet count of each tweet) |
+| dump | serialize a parsed document (compact) |
+
+`bench_corpus.cpp` runs parse, traverse, and dump on any list of files, so that no library is tuned to a handful of
+documents. Its dump also writes the numbers as they are in the input: `json_view` with `number_format::source`, and
+yyjson with numbers read as raw text (`YYJSON_READ_NUMBER_AS_RAW`), without converting them.
+
+`bench_edit.cpp` measures read-modify-write: parse, apply the same logical edits with each library's own API, and
+serialize (compact). Workloads: `patch` (a handful of edits at fixed places) and `update` (edits in every record).
+An editable `json_document` edits in place; yyjson copies its immutable document into a mutable one first
+(`yyjson_doc_mut_copy`); Boost.JSON and `json::parse` build mutable DOMs; simdjson cannot edit a document. All
+outputs are checked to describe the same value.
+
+Before anything is timed, all engines must accept each document and agree on the traversal: the number of values, the
+bytes of all strings and keys, and the sum of all numbers. All engines run interleaved in every round, and the best
+round is reported, as time and as a factor of the `json_view` time (below 1 means faster than `json_view`). Each timed
+call follows an untimed call of the same engine: otherwise the engine after `json::parse` pays for the allocator
+cleaning up the tens of thousands of nodes `json::parse` just freed (with glibc, this made `json_view` look 1.7 times
+slower on citm_catalog traverse).
+
+The engines do not all offer the same features, which the numbers should be read with:
+
+| engine | document | random access | editable | notes |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| `json_view` | immutable index into the text | yes | no | a fresh document per parse; "reused" parses into the same document |
+| yyjson | immutable (`yyjson_read`) | yes | via a mutable copy | |
+| simdjson DOM | immutable, parser reused | yes | no | "fresh" uses a new parser per parse |
+| simdjson On-Demand | none: forward-only, lazy | no | no | only traverse and select |
+| Boost.JSON | owning, mutable DOM | yes | yes | monotonic resource |
+| `json::parse` | owning, mutable DOM | yes | yes | |
+
+Reusing memory matters as much as the parser. simdjson DOM reuses its parser, so it writes into memory it already
+touched; a fresh `json_view` document or yyjson document gets new memory for every parse. On Linux, glibc returns large
+blocks to the system when they are freed, so every fresh parse of a large document pays a page fault per 4 KiB page:
+on x86-64 Linux, a fresh `json_view` parse of jeopardy took about twice as long as a reused one. On macOS on Apple
+silicon, with 16 KiB pages, the difference is much smaller. Compare "json_view (reused)" with "simdjson DOM", and the
+fresh `json_view` with "simdjson DOM (fresh)" and yyjson.
+
+## Published results
+
+Results are only published with the file `compare.py` wrote, which names the machine and the versions; see
+`results/`. Numbers from one machine and compiler do not carry over to another: rerun the script.

tests/benchmarks/json_view/bench_corpus.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,342 @@
+//     __ _____ _____ _____
+//  __|  |   __|     |   | |  JSON for Modern C++ (supporting code)
+// |  |  |__   |  |  | | | |  version 3.12.0
+// |_____|_____|_____|_|___|  https://github.com/nlohmann/json
+//
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2013-2026 Niels Lohmann <https://nlohmann.me>
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+// Corpus benchmark: the read-only workloads of bench_view.cpp on any list of
+// JSON files (for example the benchmark sets of simdjson and yyjson).
+//
+//   ./bench_corpus [--rounds N] file...
+//
+// For every file, all engines must accept it and agree on a traversal (value
+// count, string bytes, sum of numbers) before anything is timed. Workloads:
+// parse (build and free a document), traverse (visit every value, convert
+// every number), dump (compact), and for json_view also dump with the source
+// number text, compared with yyjson writing numbers read as raw text
+// (YYJSON_READ_NUMBER_AS_RAW). Results go to bench_corpus.csv.
+#include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>
+
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+    #include <boost/json.hpp>
+    #include <boost/json/src.hpp>
+#endif
+#include <simdjson.h>
+#include <yyjson.h>
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <chrono>
+#include <cmath>
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <cstring>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <functional>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+using nlohmann::json;
+using nlohmann::json_document;
+using nlohmann::json_view;
+
+static volatile double g_sink;
+
+struct stats
+{
+    double num = 0;
+    std::size_t str = 0, nodes = 0;
+};
+
+static void walk(json_view v, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (v.type())
+    {
+        case json::value_t::object:
+            for (auto it = v.begin(); it != v.end(); ++it)
+            {
+                st.str += it.key().size();
+                walk(*it, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::array:
+            for (const json_view e : v)
+            {
+                walk(e, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::string:
+            st.str += v.get_string().size();
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::number_integer:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(v.get<std::int64_t>());
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::number_unsigned:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(v.get<std::uint64_t>());
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::number_float:
+            st.num += v.get<double>();
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+static void walk(yyjson_val* v, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (yyjson_get_type(v))
+    {
+        case YYJSON_TYPE_OBJ:
+        {
+            std::size_t idx, max;
+            yyjson_val* k, * val;
+            yyjson_obj_foreach(v, idx, max, k, val)
+            {
+                st.str += yyjson_get_len(k);
+                walk(val, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+        case YYJSON_TYPE_ARR:
+        {
+            std::size_t idx, max;
+            yyjson_val* val;
+            yyjson_arr_foreach(v, idx, max, val)
+            {
+                walk(val, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+        case YYJSON_TYPE_STR:
+            st.str += yyjson_get_len(v);
+            break;
+        case YYJSON_TYPE_NUM:
+            st.num += yyjson_is_sint(v) ? static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_sint(v)) : yyjson_is_uint(v) ? static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_uint(v)) : yyjson_get_real(v);
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+static void walk(simdjson::dom::element e, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (e.type())
+    {
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::OBJECT:
+            for (auto f : simdjson::dom::object(e))
+            {
+                st.str += f.key.size();
+                walk(f.value, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::ARRAY:
+            for (auto c : simdjson::dom::array(e))
+            {
+                walk(c, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::STRING:
+            st.str += std::string_view(e).size();
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::INT64:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(int64_t(e));
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::UINT64:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(uint64_t(e));
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::DOUBLE:
+            st.num += double(e);
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+static void walk(const boost::json::value& v, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (v.kind())
+    {
+        case boost::json::kind::object:
+            for (const auto& kv : v.get_object())
+            {
+                st.str += kv.key().size();
+                walk(kv.value(), st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::array:
+            for (const auto& c : v.get_array())
+            {
+                walk(c, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::string:
+            st.str += v.get_string().size();
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::int64:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(v.get_int64());
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::uint64:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(v.get_uint64());
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::double_:
+            st.num += v.get_double();
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+#endif
+
+static std::string slurp(const std::string& p)
+{
+    std::ifstream f(p, std::ios::binary);
+    if (!f)
+    {
+        std::fprintf(stderr, "cannot open %s\n", p.c_str());
+        std::exit(1);
+    }
+    std::stringstream ss;
+    ss << f.rdbuf();
+    return ss.str();
+}
+
+static bool same(const stats& a, const stats& b)
+{
+    return a.nodes == b.nodes && a.str == b.str && (a.num == b.num || std::fabs(a.num - b.num) <= 1e-9 * std::fabs(a.num));
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
+{
+    int rounds = 0; // 0: by size
+    std::vector<std::string> files;
+    for (int i = 1; i < argc; ++i)
+    {
+        if (std::strcmp(argv[i], "--rounds") == 0 && i + 1 < argc)
+        {
+            rounds = std::atoi(argv[++i]);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            files.push_back(argv[i]);
+        }
+    }
+    std::FILE* csv = std::fopen("bench_corpus.csv", "w");
+    std::fprintf(csv, "file,bytes,workload,engine,ns\n");
+    json_document reused;
+    simdjson::dom::parser sj;
+    for (const auto& path : files)
+    {
+        const std::string s = slurp(path);
+        const std::string name = path.substr(path.rfind('/') + 1);
+        const simdjson::padded_string ps(s);
+
+        // all engines must agree before timing
+        stats a, b, c, d;
+        const json_document doc = json_document::parse(s);
+        walk(doc.root(), a);
+        yyjson_doc* y = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), 0);
+        auto sjr = sj.parse(ps);
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+        boost::json::parse_options opt;
+        opt.numbers = boost::json::number_precision::precise;
+        boost::json::monotonic_resource mr0;
+        const boost::json::value bv = boost::json::parse(s, &mr0, opt);
+#endif
+        if (y == nullptr || sjr.error())
+        {
+            std::printf("%-34s skipped (an engine rejects it)\n", name.c_str());
+            yyjson_doc_free(y);
+            continue;
+        }
+        walk(yyjson_doc_get_root(y), b);
+        walk(sjr.value_unsafe(), c);
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+        walk(bv, d);
+#else
+        d = a;
+#endif
+        yyjson_doc_free(y);
+        const bool ok = same(a, b) && same(a, c) && same(a, d);
+
+        const int r = rounds > 0 ? rounds : static_cast<int>(std::max<std::size_t>(3, std::min<std::size_t>(60, 400000000 / (s.size() + 1))));
+        struct engine
+        {
+            std::string name;
+            std::function<void()> fn;
+        };
+        json_document vd = json_document::parse(s);
+        yyjson_doc* yd = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), 0);
+        yyjson_doc* yd_raw = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), YYJSON_READ_NUMBER_AS_RAW);
+        simdjson::dom::parser sjd;
+        const simdjson::dom::element se = sjd.parse(ps).value_unsafe();
+        const std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::vector<engine>>> workloads =
+        {
+            {
+                "parse", {
+                    {"json_view", [&] { auto x = json_document::parse(s); g_sink = static_cast<double>(x.node_count()); }},
+                    {"json_view (reused)", [&] { reused.read(s); g_sink = static_cast<double>(reused.node_count()); }},
+                    {"yyjson", [&] { yyjson_doc* x = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), 0); g_sink = static_cast<double>(yyjson_doc_get_val_count(x)); yyjson_doc_free(x); }},
+                    {"simdjson DOM", [&] { auto e = sj.parse(ps).value_unsafe(); g_sink = e.is_object(); }},
+                    {"simdjson DOM (fresh)", [&] { simdjson::dom::parser p; auto e = p.parse(ps).value_unsafe(); g_sink = e.is_object(); }},
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+                    {"Boost.JSON", [&] { boost::json::monotonic_resource mr; auto v = boost::json::parse(s, &mr); g_sink = v.is_object(); }},
+#endif
+                }
+            },
+            {
+                "traverse", {
+                    {"json_view", [&] { auto x = json_document::parse(s); stats st; walk(x.root(), st); g_sink = st.num; }},
+                    {"yyjson", [&] { yyjson_doc* x = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), 0); stats st; walk(yyjson_doc_get_root(x), st); g_sink = st.num; yyjson_doc_free(x); }},
+                    {"simdjson DOM", [&] { stats st; walk(sj.parse(ps).value_unsafe(), st); g_sink = st.num; }},
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+                    {"Boost.JSON", [&] { boost::json::monotonic_resource mr; auto v = boost::json::parse(s, &mr); stats st; walk(v, st); g_sink = st.num; }},
+#endif
+                }
+            },
+            {
+                "dump", {
+                    {"json_view", [&] { std::string o = vd.root().dump(); g_sink = static_cast<double>(o.size()); }},
+                    {"yyjson", [&] { std::size_t n = 0; char* o = yyjson_write(yd, 0, &n); g_sink = static_cast<double>(n); std::free(o); }},
+                    {"simdjson DOM", [&] { std::string o = simdjson::to_string(se); g_sink = static_cast<double>(o.size()); }},
+                    {"json_view (source numbers)", [&] { std::string o = vd.root().dump(-1, ' ', false, json_view::number_format::source); g_sink = static_cast<double>(o.size()); }},
+                    {"yyjson (raw numbers)", [&] { std::size_t n = 0; char* o = yyjson_write(yd_raw, 0, &n); g_sink = static_cast<double>(n); std::free(o); }},
+                }
+            },
+        };
+        std::printf("%-34s %9zu B%s\n", name.c_str(), s.size(), ok ? "" : "  [ENGINES DISAGREE]");
+        for (const auto& wl : workloads)
+        {
+            std::vector<double> best(wl.second.size(), 1e300);
+            for (int i = 0; i < r; ++i)
+            {
+                for (std::size_t k = 0; k < wl.second.size(); ++k)
+                {
+                    // an untimed call first: whatever the previous engine left to the allocator
+                    // (e.g. thousands of freed json nodes) is cleaned up here, not in the timing
+                    wl.second[k].fn();
+                    const auto t0 = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
+                    wl.second[k].fn();
+                    best[k] = std::min(best[k], std::chrono::duration<double, std::nano>(std::chrono::steady_clock::now() - t0).count());
+                }
+            }
+            std::printf("  %-9s", wl.first.c_str());
+            for (std::size_t k = 0; k < wl.second.size(); ++k)
+            {
+                std::printf("  %s %.2f GB/s (%.2fx)", wl.second[k].name.c_str(), static_cast<double>(s.size()) / best[k], best[k] / best[0]);
+                std::fprintf(csv, "%s,%zu,%s,%s,%.1f\n", name.c_str(), s.size(), wl.first.c_str(), wl.second[k].name.c_str(), best[k]);
+            }
+            std::printf("\n");
+            std::fflush(stdout);
+        }
+        yyjson_doc_free(yd);
+        yyjson_doc_free(yd_raw);
+    }
+    std::fclose(csv);
+}

tests/benchmarks/json_view/bench_edit.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,583 @@
+//     __ _____ _____ _____
+//  __|  |   __|     |   | |  JSON for Modern C++ (supporting code)
+// |  |  |__   |  |  | | | |  version 3.12.0
+// |_____|_____|_____|_|___|  https://github.com/nlohmann/json
+//
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2013-2026 Niels Lohmann <https://nlohmann.me>
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+// Read-modify-write benchmark: parse a document, apply the same logical edits
+// with each library's own API, and serialize it (compact).
+//
+//   json_view     json_editable_document: edits in place, unchanged values stay in the index
+//   yyjson        yyjson_read + yyjson_doc_mut_copy (the way to edit a parsed document)
+//   Boost.JSON    parse into a mutable DOM (monotonic resource, precise numbers), serialize
+//   json::parse   nlohmann::json today
+// simdjson has no mutable document and is not part of this comparison.
+//
+// Workloads:
+//   patch   a handful of edits at fixed places (scalars, a new member, a new array element)
+//   update  edits in every record (twitter: 100 statuses, citm: 243 performances,
+//           canada: 480 rings, jeopardy: 216,930 questions): set scalars, erase a
+//           member, add a member (canada: replace the first point of every ring)
+//
+// Build: see README.md (same flags as bench_view.cpp).
+#include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>
+
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+    #include <boost/json.hpp>
+    #include <boost/json/src.hpp>
+#endif
+#include <yyjson.h>
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <chrono>
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <functional>
+#include <sstream>
+
+using nlohmann::json;
+using nlohmann::json_editable_document;
+using nlohmann::json_editable_view;
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+    namespace bj = boost::json;
+#endif
+
+static volatile std::size_t g_sink;
+
+// ---------------- json_view ----------------
+
+static std::string edit_view(const std::string& name, const std::string& s, bool update)
+{
+    json_editable_document d = json_editable_document::parse(s);
+    const json_editable_view r = d.root();
+    if (name == "twitter")
+    {
+        if (update)
+        {
+            std::int64_t i = 0;
+            for (const json_editable_view st : r["statuses"])
+            {
+                d.set(st, "retweet_count", i++);
+                d.set(st, "favorited", true);
+                d.set(st, "text", "redacted");
+                d.erase(st, "entities");
+                d.set(st, "edited", true);
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            d.set(r["search_metadata"], "count", 200);
+            d.set(r["statuses"][0], "text", "patched");
+            d.set(r["statuses"][0]["user"], "followers_count", 1);
+            d.set(r["statuses"][99], "favorited", true);
+            d.set(r, "patched", true);
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "citm_catalog")
+    {
+        if (update)
+        {
+            for (const json_editable_view p : r["performances"])
+            {
+                d.set(p, "name", "performance");
+                d.set(p, "start", p["start"].get<std::int64_t>() + 1);
+                d.erase(p, "seatMapImage");
+                d.set(p, "edited", true);
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            d.set(r["events"]["138586341"], "name", "patched");
+            d.set(r["performances"][0], "start", 0);
+            d.set(r["venueNames"], "PLEYEL_PLEYEL", "Salle");
+            d.set(r, "patched", true);
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "canada")
+    {
+        const json_editable_view coords = r["features"][0]["geometry"]["coordinates"];
+        if (update)
+        {
+            for (const json_editable_view ring : coords)
+            {
+                d.set(ring, 0, json::array({0.5, 0.5}));
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            d.set(r["features"][0]["properties"], "name", "patched");
+            d.set(r, "type", "FeatureCollection2");
+            d.set(coords[0], 0, json::array({0.0, 0.0}));
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "jeopardy")
+    {
+        if (update)
+        {
+            for (const json_editable_view q : r)
+            {
+                d.set(q, "value", "$1");
+                d.erase(q, "air_date");
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            d.set(r[0], "value", "$0");
+            d.set(r[100000], "answer", "patched");
+            d.set(r[216929], "round", "x");
+            d.push_back(r, json::object({{"category", "NEW"}, {"value", "$5"}}));
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "status")
+    {
+        d.set(r, "retweet_count", 1);
+        d.set(r["user"], "name", "x");
+    }
+    else if (name == "rpc")
+    {
+        d.set(r, "id", 4);
+        d.set(r["params"], "subtrahend", 24);
+    }
+    return r.dump();
+}
+
+// ---------------- nlohmann::json ----------------
+
+static std::string edit_json(const std::string& name, const std::string& s, bool update)
+{
+    json r = json::parse(s);
+    if (name == "twitter")
+    {
+        if (update)
+        {
+            std::int64_t i = 0;
+            for (auto& st : r["statuses"])
+            {
+                st["retweet_count"] = i++;
+                st["favorited"] = true;
+                st["text"] = "redacted";
+                st.erase("entities");
+                st["edited"] = true;
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            r["search_metadata"]["count"] = 200;
+            r["statuses"][0]["text"] = "patched";
+            r["statuses"][0]["user"]["followers_count"] = 1;
+            r["statuses"][99]["favorited"] = true;
+            r["patched"] = true;
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "citm_catalog")
+    {
+        if (update)
+        {
+            for (auto& p : r["performances"])
+            {
+                p["name"] = "performance";
+                p["start"] = p["start"].get<std::int64_t>() + 1;
+                p.erase("seatMapImage");
+                p["edited"] = true;
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            r["events"]["138586341"]["name"] = "patched";
+            r["performances"][0]["start"] = 0;
+            r["venueNames"]["PLEYEL_PLEYEL"] = "Salle";
+            r["patched"] = true;
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "canada")
+    {
+        json& coords = r["features"][0]["geometry"]["coordinates"];
+        if (update)
+        {
+            for (auto& ring : coords)
+            {
+                ring[0] = json::array({0.5, 0.5});
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            r["features"][0]["properties"]["name"] = "patched";
+            r["type"] = "FeatureCollection2";
+            coords[0][0] = json::array({0.0, 0.0});
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "jeopardy")
+    {
+        if (update)
+        {
+            for (auto& q : r)
+            {
+                q["value"] = "$1";
+                q.erase("air_date");
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            r[0]["value"] = "$0";
+            r[100000]["answer"] = "patched";
+            r[216929]["round"] = "x";
+            r.push_back(json::object({{"category", "NEW"}, {"value", "$5"}}));
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "status")
+    {
+        r["retweet_count"] = 1;
+        r["user"]["name"] = "x";
+    }
+    else if (name == "rpc")
+    {
+        r["id"] = 4;
+        r["params"]["subtrahend"] = 24;
+    }
+    return r.dump();
+}
+
+// ---------------- yyjson ----------------
+
+static std::string edit_yyjson(const std::string& name, const std::string& s, bool update)
+{
+    yyjson_doc* idoc = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), 0);
+    yyjson_mut_doc* d = yyjson_doc_mut_copy(idoc, nullptr);
+    yyjson_doc_free(idoc);
+    yyjson_mut_val* r = yyjson_mut_doc_get_root(d);
+    auto get = [](yyjson_mut_val * o, const char* k)
+    {
+        return yyjson_mut_obj_get(o, k);
+    };
+    if (name == "twitter")
+    {
+        yyjson_mut_val* sts = get(r, "statuses");
+        if (update)
+        {
+            std::size_t idx, max;
+            yyjson_mut_val* st;
+            std::int64_t i = 0;
+            yyjson_mut_arr_foreach(sts, idx, max, st)
+            {
+                yyjson_mut_set_sint(get(st, "retweet_count"), i++);
+                yyjson_mut_set_bool(get(st, "favorited"), true);
+                yyjson_mut_set_str(get(st, "text"), "redacted");
+                yyjson_mut_obj_remove_key(st, "entities");
+                yyjson_mut_obj_add_bool(d, st, "edited", true);
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            yyjson_mut_set_sint(get(get(r, "search_metadata"), "count"), 200);
+            yyjson_mut_val* s0 = yyjson_mut_arr_get(sts, 0);
+            yyjson_mut_set_str(get(s0, "text"), "patched");
+            yyjson_mut_set_sint(get(get(s0, "user"), "followers_count"), 1);
+            yyjson_mut_set_bool(get(yyjson_mut_arr_get(sts, 99), "favorited"), true);
+            yyjson_mut_obj_add_bool(d, r, "patched", true);
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "citm_catalog")
+    {
+        if (update)
+        {
+            std::size_t idx, max;
+            yyjson_mut_val* p;
+            yyjson_mut_arr_foreach(get(r, "performances"), idx, max, p)
+            {
+                yyjson_mut_set_str(get(p, "name"), "performance");
+                yyjson_mut_val* start = get(p, "start");
+                yyjson_mut_set_sint(start, yyjson_mut_get_sint(start) + 1);
+                yyjson_mut_obj_remove_key(p, "seatMapImage");
+                yyjson_mut_obj_add_bool(d, p, "edited", true);
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            yyjson_mut_set_str(get(get(get(r, "events"), "138586341"), "name"), "patched");
+            yyjson_mut_set_sint(get(yyjson_mut_arr_get(get(r, "performances"), 0), "start"), 0);
+            yyjson_mut_set_str(get(get(r, "venueNames"), "PLEYEL_PLEYEL"), "Salle");
+            yyjson_mut_obj_add_bool(d, r, "patched", true);
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "canada")
+    {
+        yyjson_mut_val* f0 = yyjson_mut_arr_get(get(r, "features"), 0);
+        yyjson_mut_val* coords = get(get(f0, "geometry"), "coordinates");
+        if (update)
+        {
+            static const double half[2] = {0.5, 0.5};
+            std::size_t idx, max;
+            yyjson_mut_val* ring;
+            yyjson_mut_arr_foreach(coords, idx, max, ring)
+            {
+                yyjson_mut_arr_replace(ring, 0, yyjson_mut_arr_with_real(d, half, 2));
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            static const double zero[2] = {0.0, 0.0};
+            yyjson_mut_set_str(get(get(f0, "properties"), "name"), "patched");
+            yyjson_mut_set_str(get(r, "type"), "FeatureCollection2");
+            yyjson_mut_arr_replace(yyjson_mut_arr_get(coords, 0), 0, yyjson_mut_arr_with_real(d, zero, 2));
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "jeopardy")
+    {
+        if (update)
+        {
+            std::size_t idx, max;
+            yyjson_mut_val* q;
+            yyjson_mut_arr_foreach(r, idx, max, q)
+            {
+                yyjson_mut_set_str(get(q, "value"), "$1");
+                yyjson_mut_obj_remove_key(q, "air_date");
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            yyjson_mut_set_str(get(yyjson_mut_arr_get(r, 0), "value"), "$0");
+            yyjson_mut_set_str(get(yyjson_mut_arr_get(r, 100000), "answer"), "patched");
+            yyjson_mut_set_str(get(yyjson_mut_arr_get(r, 216929), "round"), "x");
+            yyjson_mut_val* o = yyjson_mut_obj(d);
+            yyjson_mut_obj_add_str(d, o, "category", "NEW");
+            yyjson_mut_obj_add_str(d, o, "value", "$5");
+            yyjson_mut_arr_append(r, o);
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "status")
+    {
+        yyjson_mut_set_sint(get(r, "retweet_count"), 1);
+        yyjson_mut_set_str(get(get(r, "user"), "name"), "x");
+    }
+    else if (name == "rpc")
+    {
+        yyjson_mut_set_sint(get(r, "id"), 4);
+        yyjson_mut_set_sint(get(get(r, "params"), "subtrahend"), 24);
+    }
+    std::size_t n = 0;
+    char* out = yyjson_mut_write(d, 0, &n);
+    std::string result(out, n);
+    std::free(out);
+    yyjson_mut_doc_free(d);
+    return result;
+}
+
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+// ---------------- Boost.JSON ----------------
+
+static std::string edit_boost(const std::string& name, const std::string& s, bool update)
+{
+    bj::monotonic_resource mr;
+    bj::parse_options opt;
+    opt.numbers = bj::number_precision::precise; // correctly rounded, like the others
+    bj::value v = bj::parse(s, &mr, opt);
+    bj::object* const obj = v.if_object(); // nullptr for jeopardy (an array)
+    if (name == "twitter")
+    {
+        bj::array& sts = (*obj)["statuses"].as_array();
+        if (update)
+        {
+            std::int64_t i = 0;
+            for (auto& e : sts)
+            {
+                bj::object& st = e.as_object();
+                st["retweet_count"] = i++;
+                st["favorited"] = true;
+                st["text"] = "redacted";
+                st.erase("entities");
+                st["edited"] = true;
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            (*obj)["search_metadata"].as_object()["count"] = 200;
+            bj::object& s0 = sts[0].as_object();
+            s0["text"] = "patched";
+            s0["user"].as_object()["followers_count"] = 1;
+            sts[99].as_object()["favorited"] = true;
+            (*obj)["patched"] = true;
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "citm_catalog")
+    {
+        if (update)
+        {
+            for (auto& e : (*obj)["performances"].as_array())
+            {
+                bj::object& p = e.as_object();
+                p["name"] = "performance";
+                p["start"] = p["start"].as_int64() + 1;
+                p.erase("seatMapImage");
+                p["edited"] = true;
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            (*obj)["events"].as_object()["138586341"].as_object()["name"] = "patched";
+            (*obj)["performances"].as_array()[0].as_object()["start"] = 0;
+            (*obj)["venueNames"].as_object()["PLEYEL_PLEYEL"] = "Salle";
+            (*obj)["patched"] = true;
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "canada")
+    {
+        bj::object& f0 = (*obj)["features"].as_array()[0].as_object();
+        bj::array& coords = f0["geometry"].as_object()["coordinates"].as_array();
+        if (update)
+        {
+            for (auto& ring : coords)
+            {
+                ring.as_array()[0] = bj::array({0.5, 0.5});
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            f0["properties"].as_object()["name"] = "patched";
+            (*obj)["type"] = "FeatureCollection2";
+            coords[0].as_array()[0] = bj::array({0.0, 0.0});
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "jeopardy")
+    {
+        bj::array& a = v.as_array();
+        if (update)
+        {
+            for (auto& e : a)
+            {
+                bj::object& q = e.as_object();
+                q["value"] = "$1";
+                q.erase("air_date");
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            a[0].as_object()["value"] = "$0";
+            a[100000].as_object()["answer"] = "patched";
+            a[216929].as_object()["round"] = "x";
+            a.push_back(bj::object({{"category", "NEW"}, {"value", "$5"}}));
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "status")
+    {
+        (*obj)["retweet_count"] = 1;
+        (*obj)["user"].as_object()["name"] = "x";
+    }
+    else if (name == "rpc")
+    {
+        (*obj)["id"] = 4;
+        (*obj)["params"].as_object()["subtrahend"] = 24;
+    }
+    return bj::serialize(v);
+}
+#endif
+
+// ---------------- harness ----------------
+
+static std::string slurp(const std::string& p)
+{
+    std::ifstream f(p, std::ios::binary);
+    if (!f)
+    {
+        std::fprintf(stderr, "cannot open %s\n", p.c_str());
+        std::exit(1);
+    }
+    std::stringstream ss;
+    ss << f.rdbuf();
+    return ss.str();
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
+{
+    if (argc < 2)
+    {
+        std::fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s <json_test_data directory> [rounds] [document]\n", argv[0]);
+        return 1;
+    }
+    const std::string T = std::string(argv[1]) + "/";
+    const int rounds = argc > 2 ? std::atoi(argv[2]) : 20;
+    const std::string only = argc > 3 ? argv[3] : "";
+    struct doc
+    {
+        std::string name, text;
+        int batch;
+    };
+    std::vector<doc> docs;
+    for (const char* f :
+            {"nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json", "nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json", "nativejson-benchmark/canada.json", "jeopardy/jeopardy.json"
+            })
+    {
+        std::string n = std::string(f).substr(std::string(f).find('/') + 1);
+        docs.push_back({n.substr(0, n.size() - 5), slurp(T + f), 1});
+    }
+    docs.push_back({"status", json::parse(docs[0].text)["statuses"][0].dump(), 200});
+    docs.push_back({"rpc", R"({"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "subtract", "params": {"minuend": 42, "subtrahend": 23}, "id": 3})", 5000});
+
+    using fn = std::string (*)(const std::string&, const std::string&, bool);
+    const std::vector<std::pair<std::string, fn>> engines =
+    {
+        {"json_view", edit_view}, {"yyjson", edit_yyjson},
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+        {"Boost.JSON", edit_boost},
+#endif
+        {"json::parse", edit_json}
+    };
+
+    std::FILE* csv = std::fopen("bench_edit.csv", "w");
+    std::fprintf(csv, "doc,bytes,workload,engine,ns\n");
+    for (const auto& dc : docs)
+    {
+        if (!only.empty() && dc.name != only)
+        {
+            continue;
+        }
+        for (const bool update :
+                {
+                    false, true
+                })
+        {
+            if (update && (dc.name == "status" || dc.name == "rpc"))
+            {
+                continue;
+            }
+            // all engines must produce the same value
+            const json expected = json::parse(edit_json(dc.name, dc.text, update));
+            bool ok = true;
+            for (const auto& e : engines)
+            {
+                ok = ok && json::parse(e.second(dc.name, dc.text, update)) == expected;
+            }
+            std::vector<double> best(engines.size(), 1e300);
+            const int r = dc.text.size() > 10000000 ? std::max(3, rounds / 4) : rounds;
+            for (int i = 0; i < r; ++i)
+            {
+                for (std::size_t k = 0; k < engines.size(); ++k)
+                {
+                    // an untimed call first: whatever the previous engine left to the allocator
+                    // (e.g. thousands of freed json nodes) is cleaned up here, not in the timing
+                    g_sink = engines[k].second(dc.name, dc.text, update).size();
+                    const auto t0 = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
+                    for (int b = 0; b < dc.batch; ++b)
+                    {
+                        g_sink = engines[k].second(dc.name, dc.text, update).size();
+                    }
+                    const double ns = std::chrono::duration<double, std::nano>(std::chrono::steady_clock::now() - t0).count() / dc.batch;
+                    best[k] = std::min(best[k], ns);
+                }
+            }
+            const char* wl = update ? "update" : "patch";
+            std::printf("%-13s %-7s %s", dc.name.c_str(), wl, ok ? "" : "[OUTPUT MISMATCH] ");
+            for (std::size_t k = 0; k < engines.size(); ++k)
+            {
+                const double us = best[k] / 1e3;
+                std::printf("  %s %.*fus (%.2fx)", engines[k].first.c_str(), us < 10 ? 3 : (us < 1000 ? 1 : 0), us, best[k] / best[0]);
+                std::fprintf(csv, "%s,%zu,%s,%s,%.1f\n", dc.name.c_str(), dc.text.size(), wl, engines[k].first.c_str(), best[k]);
+            }
+            std::printf("\n");
+            std::fflush(stdout);
+        }
+    }
+    std::fclose(csv);
+}

tests/benchmarks/json_view/bench_view.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,749 @@
+//     __ _____ _____ _____
+//  __|  |   __|     |   | |  JSON for Modern C++ (supporting code)
+// |  |  |__   |  |  | | | |  version 3.12.0
+// |_____|_____|_____|_|___|  https://github.com/nlohmann/json
+//
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2013-2026 Niels Lohmann <https://nlohmann.me>
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+// Same-feature-set benchmark: read-only JSON documents with random access.
+//
+//   json_view      nlohmann/json_view.hpp (fresh document per parse / reused)
+//   yyjson         yyjson_read(): immutable document, random access
+//   simdjson DOM   dom::parser (reused, as recommended; "fresh": a new parser
+//                  per parse): immutable, random access
+// references (different feature sets):
+//   simdjson OD    On-Demand: forward-only, lazy
+//   Boost.JSON     owning, mutable DOM (monotonic resource)
+//   json::parse    owning, mutable DOM (nlohmann today)
+//
+// Workloads: parse (build + free), traverse (visit everything, convert every
+// number, touch every string and key), select (a few fields per document),
+// dump (compact serialization of the parsed document).
+// All engines run interleaved in every round, each timed call after an untimed
+// one of the same engine; the best round is reported.
+#include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>
+
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+    #include <boost/json.hpp>
+    #include <boost/json/src.hpp>
+#endif
+#include <simdjson.h>
+#include <yyjson.h>
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <chrono>
+#include <cmath>
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <functional>
+#include <map>
+#include <sstream>
+
+using nlohmann::json;
+using nlohmann::json_document;
+using nlohmann::json_view;
+
+static volatile double g_sink;
+
+struct stats
+{
+    double num = 0;
+    std::size_t str = 0, nodes = 0;
+};
+
+// ---------------- traversal ----------------
+
+static void walk(json_view v, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (v.type())
+    {
+        case json::value_t::object:
+            for (auto it = v.begin(); it != v.end(); ++it)
+            {
+                st.str += it.key().size();
+                walk(*it, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::array:
+            for (const json_view e : v)
+            {
+                walk(e, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::string:
+            st.str += v.get_string().size();
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::number_integer:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(v.get<std::int64_t>());
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::number_unsigned:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(v.get<std::uint64_t>());
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::number_float:
+            st.num += v.get<double>();
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+static void walk(const json& j, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (j.type())
+    {
+        case json::value_t::object:
+            for (const auto& kv : j.get_ref<const json::object_t&>())
+            {
+                st.str += kv.first.size();
+                walk(kv.second, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::array:
+            for (const auto& e : j.get_ref<const json::array_t&>())
+            {
+                walk(e, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::string:
+            st.str += j.get_ref<const std::string&>().size();
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::number_integer:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(*j.get_ptr<const json::number_integer_t*>());
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::number_unsigned:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(*j.get_ptr<const json::number_unsigned_t*>());
+            break;
+        case json::value_t::number_float:
+            st.num += *j.get_ptr<const json::number_float_t*>();
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+static void walk(yyjson_val* v, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (yyjson_get_type(v))
+    {
+        case YYJSON_TYPE_OBJ:
+        {
+            std::size_t idx, max;
+            yyjson_val* k, * val;
+            yyjson_obj_foreach(v, idx, max, k, val)
+            {
+                st.str += yyjson_get_len(k);
+                walk(val, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+        case YYJSON_TYPE_ARR:
+        {
+            std::size_t idx, max;
+            yyjson_val* val;
+            yyjson_arr_foreach(v, idx, max, val)
+            {
+                walk(val, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+        case YYJSON_TYPE_STR:
+            st.str += yyjson_get_len(v);
+            break;
+        case YYJSON_TYPE_NUM:
+            if (yyjson_is_sint(v))
+            {
+                st.num += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_sint(v));
+            }
+            else if (yyjson_is_uint(v))
+            {
+                st.num += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_uint(v));
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                st.num += yyjson_get_real(v);
+            }
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+static void walk(simdjson::dom::element e, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (e.type())
+    {
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::OBJECT:
+            for (auto f : simdjson::dom::object(e))
+            {
+                st.str += f.key.size();
+                walk(f.value, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::ARRAY:
+            for (auto c : simdjson::dom::array(e))
+            {
+                walk(c, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::STRING:
+            st.str += std::string_view(e).size();
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::INT64:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(int64_t(e));
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::UINT64:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(uint64_t(e));
+            break;
+        case simdjson::dom::element_type::DOUBLE:
+            st.num += double(e);
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+static void walk_od(simdjson::ondemand::value v, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (v.type())
+    {
+        case simdjson::ondemand::json_type::object:
+            for (auto f : v.get_object())
+            {
+                st.str += std::string_view(f.unescaped_key()).size();
+                walk_od(f.value(), st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case simdjson::ondemand::json_type::array:
+            for (auto c : v.get_array())
+            {
+                walk_od(c.value(), st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case simdjson::ondemand::json_type::string:
+            st.str += std::string_view(v.get_string()).size();
+            break;
+        case simdjson::ondemand::json_type::number:
+        {
+            simdjson::ondemand::number n = v.get_number();
+            switch (n.get_number_type())
+            {
+                case simdjson::ondemand::number_type::signed_integer:
+                    st.num += static_cast<double>(n.get_int64());
+                    break;
+                case simdjson::ondemand::number_type::unsigned_integer:
+                    st.num += static_cast<double>(n.get_uint64());
+                    break;
+                default:
+                    st.num += n.get_double();
+                    break;
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+        case simdjson::ondemand::json_type::boolean:
+            (void)bool(v.get_bool());
+            break;
+        default:
+            (void)v.is_null();
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+static void walk(const boost::json::value& v, stats& st)
+{
+    ++st.nodes;
+    switch (v.kind())
+    {
+        case boost::json::kind::object:
+            for (const auto& kv : v.get_object())
+            {
+                st.str += kv.key().size();
+                walk(kv.value(), st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::array:
+            for (const auto& c : v.get_array())
+            {
+                walk(c, st);
+            }
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::string:
+            st.str += v.get_string().size();
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::int64:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(v.get_int64());
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::uint64:
+            st.num += static_cast<double>(v.get_uint64());
+            break;
+        case boost::json::kind::double_:
+            st.num += v.get_double();
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+#endif
+
+// ---------------- selective access ----------------
+// twitter: per status id, user.screen_name, retweet_count
+// citm: per performance id, eventId, #seatCategories; #events
+// canada: type, features[0].geometry.type, #coordinates
+// jeopardy: per question: round == "Final Jeopardy!", len(category)
+// status (one tweet): id, user.screen_name, retweet_count
+// rpc: method, params.minuend, id
+
+static double pick(const std::string& name, json_view r)
+{
+    double acc = 0;
+    if (name == "twitter" || name == "status")
+    {
+        auto one = [&](json_view s)
+        {
+            acc += static_cast<double>(s["id"].get<std::uint64_t>());
+            acc += static_cast<double>(s["user"]["screen_name"].get_string().size());
+            acc += static_cast<double>(s["retweet_count"].get<std::int64_t>());
+        };
+        if (name == "twitter")
+        {
+            for (const json_view s : r["statuses"])
+            {
+                one(s);
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            one(r);
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "citm_catalog")
+    {
+        for (const json_view p : r["performances"])
+        {
+            acc += static_cast<double>(p["id"].get<std::uint64_t>() + p["eventId"].get<std::uint64_t>() + p["seatCategories"].size());
+        }
+        acc += static_cast<double>(r["events"].size());
+    }
+    else if (name == "canada")
+    {
+        const json_view g = r["features"][0]["geometry"];
+        acc += static_cast<double>(r["type"].get_string().size() + g["type"].get_string().size() + g["coordinates"].size());
+    }
+    else if (name == "jeopardy")
+    {
+        for (const json_view q : r)
+        {
+            acc += q["round"].get_string() == "Final Jeopardy!" ? 1 : 0;
+            acc += static_cast<double>(q["category"].get_string().size());
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "rpc")
+    {
+        acc += static_cast<double>(r["method"].get_string().size());
+        acc += static_cast<double>(r["params"]["minuend"].get<std::int64_t>() + r["id"].get<std::int64_t>());
+    }
+    return acc;
+}
+
+static double pick(const std::string& name, const json& r)
+{
+    double acc = 0;
+    if (name == "twitter" || name == "status")
+    {
+        auto one = [&](const json & s)
+        {
+            acc += static_cast<double>(s["id"].get<std::uint64_t>());
+            acc += static_cast<double>(s["user"]["screen_name"].get_ref<const std::string&>().size());
+            acc += static_cast<double>(s["retweet_count"].get<std::int64_t>());
+        };
+        if (name == "twitter")
+        {
+            for (const auto& s : r["statuses"])
+            {
+                one(s);
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            one(r);
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "citm_catalog")
+    {
+        for (const auto& p : r["performances"])
+        {
+            acc += static_cast<double>(p["id"].get<std::uint64_t>() + p["eventId"].get<std::uint64_t>() + p["seatCategories"].size());
+        }
+        acc += static_cast<double>(r["events"].size());
+    }
+    else if (name == "canada")
+    {
+        const json& g = r["features"][0]["geometry"];
+        acc += static_cast<double>(r["type"].get_ref<const std::string&>().size() + g["type"].get_ref<const std::string&>().size() + g["coordinates"].size());
+    }
+    else if (name == "jeopardy")
+    {
+        for (const auto& q : r)
+        {
+            acc += q["round"].get_ref<const std::string&>() == "Final Jeopardy!" ? 1 : 0;
+            acc += static_cast<double>(q["category"].get_ref<const std::string&>().size());
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "rpc")
+    {
+        acc += static_cast<double>(r["method"].get_ref<const std::string&>().size());
+        acc += static_cast<double>(r["params"]["minuend"].get<std::int64_t>() + r["id"].get<std::int64_t>());
+    }
+    return acc;
+}
+
+static double pick(const std::string& name, yyjson_val* r)
+{
+    double acc = 0;
+    auto get = [](yyjson_val * o, const char* k)
+    {
+        return yyjson_obj_get(o, k);
+    };
+    if (name == "twitter" || name == "status")
+    {
+        auto one = [&](yyjson_val * s)
+        {
+            acc += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_uint(get(s, "id")));
+            acc += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_len(get(get(s, "user"), "screen_name")));
+            acc += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_sint(get(s, "retweet_count")));
+        };
+        if (name == "twitter")
+        {
+            std::size_t idx, max;
+            yyjson_val* s;
+            yyjson_arr_foreach(get(r, "statuses"), idx, max, s)
+            {
+                one(s);
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            one(r);
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "citm_catalog")
+    {
+        std::size_t idx, max;
+        yyjson_val* p;
+        yyjson_arr_foreach(get(r, "performances"), idx, max, p)
+        {
+            acc += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_uint(get(p, "id")) + yyjson_get_uint(get(p, "eventId")) + yyjson_arr_size(get(p, "seatCategories")));
+        }
+        acc += static_cast<double>(yyjson_obj_size(get(r, "events")));
+    }
+    else if (name == "canada")
+    {
+        yyjson_val* g = get(yyjson_arr_get(get(r, "features"), 0), "geometry");
+        acc += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_len(get(r, "type")) + yyjson_get_len(get(g, "type")) + yyjson_arr_size(get(g, "coordinates")));
+    }
+    else if (name == "jeopardy")
+    {
+        std::size_t idx, max;
+        yyjson_val* q;
+        yyjson_arr_foreach(r, idx, max, q)
+        {
+            acc += yyjson_equals_str(get(q, "round"), "Final Jeopardy!") ? 1 : 0;
+            acc += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_len(get(q, "category")));
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "rpc")
+    {
+        acc += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_len(get(r, "method")));
+        acc += static_cast<double>(yyjson_get_sint(get(get(r, "params"), "minuend")) + yyjson_get_sint(get(r, "id")));
+    }
+    return acc;
+}
+
+static double pick(const std::string& name, simdjson::dom::element r)
+{
+    double acc = 0;
+    if (name == "twitter" || name == "status")
+    {
+        auto one = [&](simdjson::dom::element s)
+        {
+            acc += static_cast<double>(uint64_t(s["id"]));
+            acc += static_cast<double>(std::string_view(s["user"]["screen_name"]).size());
+            acc += static_cast<double>(int64_t(s["retweet_count"]));
+        };
+        if (name == "twitter")
+        {
+            for (auto s : simdjson::dom::array(r["statuses"]))
+            {
+                one(s);
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            one(r);
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "citm_catalog")
+    {
+        for (auto p : simdjson::dom::array(r["performances"]))
+        {
+            acc += static_cast<double>(uint64_t(p["id"]) + uint64_t(p["eventId"]) + simdjson::dom::array(p["seatCategories"]).size());
+        }
+        acc += static_cast<double>(simdjson::dom::object(r["events"]).size());
+    }
+    else if (name == "canada")
+    {
+        auto g = r["features"].at(0)["geometry"];
+        acc += static_cast<double>(std::string_view(r["type"]).size() + std::string_view(g["type"]).size() + simdjson::dom::array(g["coordinates"]).size());
+    }
+    else if (name == "jeopardy")
+    {
+        for (auto q : simdjson::dom::array(r))
+        {
+            acc += std::string_view(q["round"]) == "Final Jeopardy!" ? 1 : 0;
+            acc += static_cast<double>(std::string_view(q["category"]).size());
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "rpc")
+    {
+        acc += static_cast<double>(std::string_view(r["method"]).size());
+        acc += static_cast<double>(int64_t(r["params"]["minuend"]) + int64_t(r["id"]));
+    }
+    return acc;
+}
+
+static double pick_od(const std::string& name, simdjson::ondemand::document& d)
+{
+    double acc = 0;
+    if (name == "twitter" || name == "status")
+    {
+        auto one = [&](simdjson::ondemand::object s)
+        {
+            acc += static_cast<double>(uint64_t(s["id"]));
+            acc += static_cast<double>(std::string_view(s["user"]["screen_name"]).size());
+            acc += static_cast<double>(int64_t(s["retweet_count"]));
+        };
+        if (name == "twitter")
+        {
+            for (auto s : d["statuses"])
+            {
+                one(s.get_object());
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            one(d.get_object());
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "citm_catalog")
+    {
+        simdjson::ondemand::object ev = d["events"].get_object();
+        acc += static_cast<double>(ev.count_fields());
+        for (auto p : d["performances"])
+        {
+            simdjson::ondemand::object o = p.get_object();
+            const auto a = uint64_t(o["eventId"]) + uint64_t(o["id"]);
+            simdjson::ondemand::array sc = o["seatCategories"].get_array();
+            acc += static_cast<double>(a + sc.count_elements());
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "canada")
+    {
+        acc += static_cast<double>(std::string_view(d["type"]).size());
+        auto g = d["features"].at(0)["geometry"];
+        acc += static_cast<double>(std::string_view(g["type"]).size());
+        simdjson::ondemand::array co = g["coordinates"].get_array();
+        acc += static_cast<double>(co.count_elements());
+    }
+    else if (name == "jeopardy")
+    {
+        for (auto q : d)
+        {
+            simdjson::ondemand::object o = q.get_object();
+            acc += static_cast<double>(std::string_view(o["category"]).size());
+            acc += std::string_view(o["round"]) == "Final Jeopardy!" ? 1 : 0;
+        }
+    }
+    else if (name == "rpc")
+    {
+        acc += static_cast<double>(std::string_view(d["method"]).size());
+        acc += static_cast<double>(int64_t(d["params"]["minuend"]));
+        acc += static_cast<double>(int64_t(d["id"]));
+    }
+    return acc;
+}
+
+// ---------------- harness ----------------
+
+static std::string slurp(const std::string& p)
+{
+    std::ifstream f(p, std::ios::binary);
+    if (!f)
+    {
+        std::fprintf(stderr, "cannot open %s\n", p.c_str());
+        std::exit(1);
+    }
+    std::stringstream ss;
+    ss << f.rdbuf();
+    return ss.str();
+}
+
+struct engine
+{
+    std::string name;
+    std::function<void()> fn;
+};
+
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
+{
+    if (argc < 2)
+    {
+        std::fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s <json_test_data directory> [rounds] [document]\n", argv[0]);
+        return 1;
+    }
+    const std::string T = std::string(argv[1]) + "/";
+    const int rounds = argc > 2 ? std::atoi(argv[2]) : 30;
+    const std::string only = argc > 3 ? argv[3] : "";
+    struct doc
+    {
+        std::string name, text;
+        int batch;
+    };
+    std::vector<doc> docs;
+    for (const char* f :
+            {"nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json", "nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json", "nativejson-benchmark/canada.json", "jeopardy/jeopardy.json"
+            })
+    {
+        std::string n = std::string(f).substr(std::string(f).find('/') + 1);
+        docs.push_back({n.substr(0, n.size() - 5), slurp(T + f), 1});
+    }
+    docs.push_back({"status", json::parse(docs[0].text)["statuses"][0].dump(), 200});
+    docs.push_back({"rpc", R"({"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "subtract", "params": {"minuend": 42, "subtrahend": 23}, "id": 3})", 5000});
+
+    // correctness cross-check of the workloads
+    for (const auto& dc : docs)
+    {
+        stats a, b, c, dd;
+        walk(json::parse(dc.text), a);
+        auto d = json_document::parse(dc.text);
+        walk(d.root(), b);
+        yyjson_doc* y = yyjson_read(dc.text.data(), dc.text.size(), 0);
+        walk(yyjson_doc_get_root(y), c);
+        simdjson::dom::parser p;
+        walk(p.parse(dc.text).value(), dd);
+        const bool ok = a.nodes == b.nodes && a.nodes == c.nodes && a.nodes == dd.nodes && a.str == b.str && a.str == c.str && a.str == dd.str
+                        && std::fabs(a.num - b.num) <= 1e-9 * std::fabs(a.num) && std::fabs(a.num - c.num) <= 1e-9 * std::fabs(a.num);
+        const double pa = pick(dc.name, json::parse(dc.text)), pb = pick(dc.name, d.root()), pc = pick(dc.name, yyjson_doc_get_root(y)), pd = pick(dc.name, p.parse(dc.text).value());
+        std::printf("check %-13s traverse %s select %s\n", dc.name.c_str(), ok ? "OK" : "MISMATCH", (pa == pb && pa == pc && pa == pd) ? "OK" : "MISMATCH");
+        yyjson_doc_free(y);
+    }
+
+    std::FILE* csv = std::fopen("bench_view.csv", "w");
+    std::fprintf(csv, "doc,bytes,workload,engine,ns\n");
+    json_document reused;
+    simdjson::dom::parser sj;
+    simdjson::ondemand::parser od;
+    for (const auto& dc : docs)
+    {
+        if (!only.empty() && dc.name != only)
+        {
+            continue;
+        }
+        const std::string& s = dc.text;
+        const simdjson::padded_string ps(s);
+        const std::string name = dc.name;
+        std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::vector<engine>>> workloads;
+
+        workloads.push_back({"parse", {
+                {"json_view", [&] { auto d = json_document::parse(s); g_sink = static_cast<double>(d.node_count()); }},
+                {"json_view (reused)", [&] { reused.read(s); g_sink = static_cast<double>(reused.node_count()); }},
+                {"yyjson", [&] { yyjson_doc* d = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), 0); g_sink = static_cast<double>(yyjson_doc_get_val_count(d)); yyjson_doc_free(d); }},
+                {"simdjson DOM", [&] { auto e = sj.parse(ps).value_unsafe(); g_sink = e.is_object(); }},
+                {"simdjson DOM (fresh)", [&] { simdjson::dom::parser p; auto e = p.parse(ps).value_unsafe(); g_sink = e.is_object(); }},
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+                {"Boost.JSON", [&] { boost::json::monotonic_resource mr; auto v = boost::json::parse(s, &mr); g_sink = v.is_object(); }},
+#endif
+                {"json::parse", [&] { json j = json::parse(s); g_sink = static_cast<double>(j.size()); }},
+            }});
+        workloads.push_back({"traverse", {
+                {"json_view", [&] { auto d = json_document::parse(s); stats st; walk(d.root(), st); g_sink = st.num; }},
+                {"json_view (reused)", [&] { reused.read(s); stats st; walk(reused.root(), st); g_sink = st.num; }},
+                {"yyjson", [&] { yyjson_doc* d = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), 0); stats st; walk(yyjson_doc_get_root(d), st); g_sink = st.num; yyjson_doc_free(d); }},
+                {"simdjson DOM", [&] { stats st; walk(sj.parse(ps).value_unsafe(), st); g_sink = st.num; }},
+                {"simdjson OD", [&] { auto d = od.iterate(ps).value_unsafe(); stats st; walk_od(d.get_value().value_unsafe(), st); g_sink = st.num; }},
+#if JSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST
+                {"Boost.JSON", [&] { boost::json::monotonic_resource mr; auto v = boost::json::parse(s, &mr); stats st; walk(v, st); g_sink = st.num; }},
+#endif
+                {"json::parse", [&] { json j = json::parse(s); stats st; walk(j, st); g_sink = st.num; }},
+            }});
+        workloads.push_back({"select", {
+                {"json_view", [&] { auto d = json_document::parse(s); g_sink = pick(name, d.root()); }},
+                {"json_view (reused)", [&] { reused.read(s); g_sink = pick(name, reused.root()); }},
+                {"yyjson", [&] { yyjson_doc* d = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), 0); g_sink = pick(name, yyjson_doc_get_root(d)); yyjson_doc_free(d); }},
+                {"simdjson DOM", [&] { g_sink = pick(name, sj.parse(ps).value_unsafe()); }},
+                {"simdjson OD", [&] { auto d = od.iterate(ps).value_unsafe(); g_sink = pick_od(name, d); }},
+                {"json::parse", [&] { json j = json::parse(s); g_sink = pick(name, j); }},
+            }});
+        {
+            // serialization of an already parsed document
+            static json_document vd;
+            vd.read(s);
+            static yyjson_doc* yd = nullptr;
+            if (yd)
+            {
+                yyjson_doc_free(yd);
+            }
+            yd = yyjson_read(s.data(), s.size(), 0);
+            static simdjson::dom::parser sjd;
+            static simdjson::dom::element se;
+            se = sjd.parse(ps).value_unsafe();
+            static json jd;
+            jd = json::parse(s);
+            workloads.push_back({"dump", {
+                    {"json_view", [&] { std::string o = vd.root().dump(); g_sink = static_cast<double>(o.size()); }},
+                    {"yyjson", [&] { std::size_t n = 0; char* o = yyjson_write(yd, 0, &n); g_sink = static_cast<double>(n); std::free(o); }},
+                    {"simdjson DOM", [&] { std::string o = simdjson::to_string(se); g_sink = static_cast<double>(o.size()); }},
+                    {"json::parse", [&] { std::string o = jd.dump(); g_sink = static_cast<double>(o.size()); }},
+                }});
+        }
+
+        for (auto& wl : workloads)
+        {
+            std::vector<double> best(wl.second.size(), 1e300);
+            const int r = s.size() > 10000000 ? std::max(3, rounds / 5) : rounds;
+            for (int i = 0; i < r; ++i)
+            {
+                for (std::size_t k = 0; k < wl.second.size(); ++k)
+                {
+                    // an untimed call first: whatever the previous engine left to the allocator
+                    // (e.g. thousands of freed json nodes) is cleaned up here, not in the timing
+                    wl.second[k].fn();
+                    const auto t0 = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
+                    for (int b = 0; b < dc.batch; ++b)
+                    {
+                        wl.second[k].fn();
+                    }
+                    const double ns = std::chrono::duration<double, std::nano>(std::chrono::steady_clock::now() - t0).count() / dc.batch;
+                    best[k] = std::min(best[k], ns);
+                }
+            }
+            const double ref = best[0];
+            std::printf("%-13s %-9s", dc.name.c_str(), wl.first.c_str());
+            for (std::size_t k = 0; k < wl.second.size(); ++k)
+            {
+                const double us = best[k] / 1e3;
+                std::printf("  %s %s%s (%.2fx)", wl.second[k].name.c_str(), us >= 100 ? "" : "", (us >= 1000 ? std::to_string(static_cast<long>(us)) + "us" : (std::to_string(us).substr(0, 5) + "us")).c_str(), best[k] / ref);
+                std::fprintf(csv, "%s,%zu,%s,%s,%.1f\n", dc.name.c_str(), s.size(), wl.first.c_str(), wl.second[k].name.c_str(), best[k]);
+            }
+            std::printf("\n");
+            std::fflush(stdout);
+        }
+    }
+    std::fclose(csv);
+}

tests/benchmarks/json_view/compare.py

@@ -0,0 +1,313 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+#     __ _____ _____ _____
+#  __|  |   __|     |   | |  JSON for Modern C++ (supporting code)
+# |  |  |__   |  |  | | | |  version 3.12.0
+# |_____|_____|_____|_|___|  https://github.com/nlohmann/json
+#
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2013-2026 Niels Lohmann <https://nlohmann.me>
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+"""Compare json_view with yyjson, simdjson, Boost.JSON, and json::parse.
+
+Builds bench_view.cpp, bench_corpus.cpp, and bench_edit.cpp against the include/ directory of
+this checkout, runs them, and writes the results with everything needed to
+reproduce them (date, commit, CPU, OS, compiler, library versions, flags) to
+results/<date>-<host>.md and .csv next to this script.
+
+The other libraries come from the system (--system, the default: pkg-config
+or Homebrew) or are downloaded as pinned releases and checked against their
+SHA-256 (--download). Boost.JSON is optional: without Boost headers, its
+columns are skipped, and the results say so.
+
+Only the Python 3 standard library is used; a C++17 compiler is needed.
+"""
+
+import argparse
+import datetime
+import hashlib
+import os
+import platform
+import re
+import shlex
+import shutil
+# runs only the compilers and benchmark binaries this script builds
+import subprocess  # nosec B404
+import sys
+import tarfile
+import urllib.request
+
+HERE = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+REPO = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(HERE, '..', '..', '..'))
+
+# pinned releases for --download; the hashes are those of the archives
+PINNED = {
+    'yyjson': {
+        'version': '0.13.0',
+        'url': 'https://github.com/ibireme/yyjson/archive/refs/tags/0.13.0.tar.gz',
+        'sha256': '34e0f62a2bc11ab20d601e8ca1cc2b2079503aa45119a19133d89d19b94a0fae',
+        'dir': 'yyjson-0.13.0',
+    },
+    'simdjson': {
+        'version': '4.6.11',
+        'url': 'https://github.com/simdjson/simdjson/archive/refs/tags/v4.6.11.tar.gz',
+        'sha256': '61d948fc24f0d793829ad658058e7597d064988a89b4607ea02e401a82df98ff',
+        'dir': 'simdjson-4.6.11',
+    },
+    'boost': {
+        'version': '1.92.0',
+        'url': 'https://archives.boost.io/release/1.92.0/source/boost_1_92_0.tar.gz',
+        'sha256': 'c4a3b310ddd2472416e091067166b0713be97c63f38c212c484ada022fd296ce',
+        'dir': 'boost_1_92_0',
+    },
+}
+
+# the documents of bench_view.cpp, relative to the json_test_data directory
+DEFAULT_CORPUS = [
+    'nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json',
+    'nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json',
+    'nativejson-benchmark/canada.json',
+    'jeopardy/jeopardy.json',
+]
+
+
+def run(cmd, **kwargs):
+    print('+ ' + ' '.join(shlex.quote(c) for c in cmd), flush=True)
+    # cmd is an argument list built by this script, never a shell string
+    return subprocess.run(cmd, check=True, **kwargs)  # nosec B603
+
+
+def output(cmd):
+    try:
+        # cmd is an argument list built by this script, never a shell string
+        return subprocess.run(cmd, check=True, capture_output=True, text=True).stdout.strip()  # nosec B603
+    except (OSError, subprocess.CalledProcessError):
+        return ''
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# libraries
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+class Library:
+    """include directories, sources to compile, and linker flags of a library"""
+
+    def __init__(self, name, include=None, sources=None, link=None, version=''):
+        self.name = name
+        self.include = include or []
+        self.sources = sources or []
+        self.link = link or []
+        self.version = version
+
+
+def header_version(path, pattern):
+    try:
+        with open(path, encoding='utf-8', errors='replace') as f:
+            m = re.search(pattern, f.read())
+        return m.group(1) if m else ''
+    except OSError:
+        return ''
+
+
+def library_version(name, include_dirs):
+    patterns = {
+        'yyjson': ('yyjson.h', r'#define\s+YYJSON_VERSION_STRING\s+"([^"]+)"'),
+        'simdjson': ('simdjson.h', r'#define\s+SIMDJSON_VERSION\s+"?([0-9.]+)"?'),
+        'boost': (os.path.join('boost', 'version.hpp'), r'#define\s+BOOST_LIB_VERSION\s+"([^"]+)"'),
+    }
+    header, pattern = patterns[name]
+    for d in include_dirs:
+        v = header_version(os.path.join(d, header), pattern)
+        if v:
+            return v.replace('_', '.')
+    return ''
+
+
+def system_library(name):
+    """a library found with pkg-config or Homebrew, or None"""
+    flags = output(['pkg-config', '--cflags', '--libs', name]).split()
+    if flags:
+        include = [f[2:] for f in flags if f.startswith('-I')]
+        link = [f for f in flags if f.startswith('-L') or f.startswith('-l')]
+        libdirs = [f[2:] for f in link if f.startswith('-L')]
+        link += ['-Wl,-rpath,' + d for d in libdirs]
+        return Library(name, include, [], link, library_version(name, include))
+    prefix = output(['brew', '--prefix', name]) if shutil.which('brew') else ''
+    if prefix and os.path.isdir(os.path.join(prefix, 'include')):
+        include = [os.path.join(prefix, 'include')]
+        link = []
+        if name != 'boost':
+            lib = os.path.join(prefix, 'lib')
+            link = ['-L' + lib, '-l' + name, '-Wl,-rpath,' + lib]
+        return Library(name, include, [], link, library_version(name, include))
+    if name == 'boost':
+        for d in ['/usr/include', '/usr/local/include']:
+            if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(d, 'boost', 'json.hpp')):
+                return Library(name, [d], [], [], library_version(name, [d]))
+    return None
+
+
+def download_library(name, work):
+    """a pinned release, downloaded and checked, or an error"""
+    pin = PINNED[name]
+    archive = os.path.join(work, 'download', os.path.basename(pin['url']))
+    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(archive), exist_ok=True)
+    if not os.path.isfile(archive):
+        print(f'downloading {pin["url"]}', flush=True)
+        # the URLs are the https constants in PINNED, and the SHA-256 is checked below
+        # (into a .part file first, so that an interrupted download is not kept)
+        urllib.request.urlretrieve(pin['url'], archive + '.part')  # nosec B310
+        os.replace(archive + '.part', archive)
+    with open(archive, 'rb') as f:
+        digest = hashlib.sha256(f.read()).hexdigest()
+    if digest != pin['sha256']:
+        os.remove(archive)  # downloaded again by the next run
+        sys.exit(f'error: SHA-256 of {archive} is {digest}, expected {pin["sha256"]} (removed)')
+    src = os.path.join(work, 'download', pin['dir'])
+    if not os.path.isdir(src):
+        with tarfile.open(archive) as t:
+            # (the 'data' filter rejects links and paths outside the target where Python has it)
+            kwargs = {'filter': 'data'} if hasattr(tarfile, 'data_filter') else {}
+            t.extractall(os.path.join(work, 'download'), **kwargs)  # noqa: S202 (checked archive)  # nosec B202
+    if name == 'yyjson':
+        return Library(name, [os.path.join(src, 'src')], [os.path.join(src, 'src', 'yyjson.c')], [], pin['version'])
+    if name == 'simdjson':
+        single = os.path.join(src, 'singleheader')
+        return Library(name, [single], [os.path.join(single, 'simdjson.cpp')], [], pin['version'])
+    return Library(name, [src], [], [], pin['version'])
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# machine description
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def cpu_model():
+    if sys.platform == 'darwin':
+        return output(['sysctl', '-n', 'machdep.cpu.brand_string'])
+    try:
+        with open('/proc/cpuinfo', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+            for line in f:
+                if line.startswith('model name') or line.startswith('Model'):
+                    return line.split(':', 1)[1].strip()
+    except OSError:
+        pass
+    # (AArch64 Linux: /proc/cpuinfo has no model name, lscpu knows it)
+    for line in output(['lscpu']).splitlines():
+        if line.startswith('Model name:'):
+            return line.split(':', 1)[1].strip()
+    return platform.processor() or platform.machine()
+
+
+def git_commit():
+    commit = output(['git', '-C', REPO, 'rev-parse', '--short=12', 'HEAD'])
+    dirty = output(['git', '-C', REPO, 'status', '--porcelain', '--untracked-files=no'])
+    return commit + (' (with local changes)' if dirty else '')
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# main
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def main():
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__, formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter)
+    ap.add_argument('--data', required=True, help='json_test_data directory (with nativejson-benchmark/ and jeopardy/)')
+    ap.add_argument('--download', action='store_true', help='use pinned downloads instead of system libraries')
+    ap.add_argument('--no-boost', action='store_true', help='skip Boost.JSON')
+    ap.add_argument('--native', action='store_true', help='compile for this CPU (-march=native / -mcpu=native)')
+    ap.add_argument('--rounds', type=int, default=30, help='rounds of bench_view (default: 30)')
+    ap.add_argument('--corpus', nargs='*', default=[], help='more files for bench_corpus')
+    ap.add_argument('--build-dir', default=os.path.join(HERE, 'build'), help='where to build (default: build/ next to this script)')
+    args = ap.parse_args()
+    # the benchmarks run in the build directory: make the paths absolute
+    args.data = os.path.abspath(args.data)
+    args.corpus = [os.path.abspath(f) for f in args.corpus]
+    args.build_dir = os.path.abspath(args.build_dir)
+
+    cxx = os.environ.get('CXX', 'c++')
+    cc = os.environ.get('CC', 'cc')
+    os.makedirs(args.build_dir, exist_ok=True)
+
+    libs = {}
+    for name in ['yyjson', 'simdjson', 'boost']:
+        if name == 'boost' and args.no_boost:
+            continue
+        lib = download_library(name, args.build_dir) if args.download else system_library(name)
+        if lib is None and name != 'boost':
+            sys.exit(f'error: {name} not found; install it, or use --download')
+        if lib is not None:
+            libs[name] = lib
+    with_boost = 'boost' in libs
+    if not with_boost:
+        print('Boost.JSON not found: its columns are skipped', flush=True)
+
+    flags = ['-std=c++17', '-O3', '-DNDEBUG', f'-DJSON_VIEW_BENCH_BOOST={1 if with_boost else 0}']
+    if args.native:
+        flags.append('-mcpu=native' if platform.machine().lower() in ('arm64', 'aarch64') else '-march=native')
+    include = ['-I' + os.path.join(REPO, 'include')] + ['-I' + d for lib in libs.values() for d in lib.include]
+    link = [f for lib in libs.values() for f in lib.link]
+
+    # C sources of downloaded libraries are compiled once
+    objects = []
+    for lib in libs.values():
+        for src in lib.sources:
+            obj = os.path.join(args.build_dir, os.path.basename(src) + '.o')
+            compiler = cc if src.endswith('.c') else cxx
+            run([compiler] + (['-std=c++17'] if compiler == cxx else []) + ['-O3', '-DNDEBUG', '-c', src, '-o', obj]
+                + ['-I' + d for d in lib.include])
+            objects.append(obj)
+
+    binaries = {}
+    for bench in ['bench_view', 'bench_corpus', 'bench_edit']:
+        exe = os.path.join(args.build_dir, bench)
+        run([cxx] + flags + include + [os.path.join(HERE, bench + '.cpp')] + objects + link + ['-o', exe])
+        binaries[bench] = exe
+
+    # run: bench_view on its documents, bench_corpus on those and the given files
+    corpus = [os.path.join(args.data, f) for f in DEFAULT_CORPUS] + args.corpus
+    outputs = {}
+    outputs['bench_view'] = run([binaries['bench_view'], args.data, str(args.rounds)], cwd=args.build_dir,
+                                capture_output=True, text=True).stdout
+    outputs['bench_corpus'] = run([binaries['bench_corpus']] + corpus, cwd=args.build_dir,
+                                  capture_output=True, text=True).stdout
+    outputs['bench_edit'] = run([binaries['bench_edit'], args.data, str(max(1, args.rounds // 2))], cwd=args.build_dir,
+                                capture_output=True, text=True).stdout
+    for name, text in outputs.items():
+        print(text)
+
+    # results with their metadata
+    now = datetime.datetime.now()
+    host = re.sub(r'[^A-Za-z0-9-]+', '-', platform.node().split('.')[0]) or 'host'
+    stem = os.path.join(HERE, 'results', f'{now:%Y-%m-%d}-{host}')
+    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(stem), exist_ok=True)
+    meta = [
+        ('date', f'{now:%Y-%m-%d %H:%M}'),
+        ('commit', git_commit()),
+        ('CPU', cpu_model()),
+        ('OS', f'{platform.system()} {platform.release()} ({platform.machine()})'),
+        ('compiler', output([cxx, '--version']).splitlines()[0] if output([cxx, '--version']) else cxx),
+        ('flags', ' '.join(flags)),
+        ('yyjson', libs['yyjson'].version),
+        ('simdjson', libs['simdjson'].version),
+        ('Boost.JSON', libs['boost'].version if with_boost else 'skipped (not found)'),
+        ('libraries from', 'pinned downloads' if args.download else 'the system'),
+        ('rounds', str(args.rounds)),
+    ]
+    with open(stem + '.md', 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        f.write(f'# json_view comparison, {now:%Y-%m-%d}\n\n')
+        f.write('Generated by `tests/benchmarks/json_view/compare.py`; best of the interleaved rounds.\n\n')
+        f.write('| | |\n|---|---|\n')
+        for key, value in meta:
+            f.write(f'| {key} | {value} |\n')
+        for name, text in outputs.items():
+            f.write(f'\n## {name}\n\n```\n{text.rstrip()}\n```\n')
+    with open(stem + '.csv', 'w', encoding='utf-8') as out:
+        out.write(''.join(f'# {key}: {value}\n' for key, value in meta))
+        for name in ['bench_view', 'bench_corpus', 'bench_edit']:
+            path = os.path.join(args.build_dir, name + '.csv')
+            if os.path.isfile(path):
+                with open(path, encoding='utf-8') as f:
+                    out.write(f'# {name}\n' + f.read())
+    print(f'results: {stem}.md, {stem}.csv')
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()