The Clinger fast path is exact only for the "easy" subset (<=19 significant
digits, |exp10| <= 22); high-precision and scientific floats fall through to
strtod, where the failed Clinger attempt actually makes parsing a net loss.
std::from_chars implements the Eisel-Lemire algorithm in modern standard
libraries: locale-independent, correctly rounded, and fast over the whole
value range.
convert_number() now tries parse_float_from_chars() first (guarded by
__cpp_lib_to_chars, so C++11 and libc++-without-float-support keep the
Clinger + strtod path unchanged), then Clinger, then strtof. from_chars is
used only when it consumes the entire token; a partial parse means a non-'.'
locale decimal point, and an under-/overflow (result_out_of_range) also
declines - in both cases the existing strtod fallback supplies the exact
value and the well-defined +/-inf/0 the parser expects, side-stepping the
P4168 divergence between implementations. float and long double now get the
fast path too (Clinger was double-only).
Measured, C++17, g++ 13 -O3, json::parse/accept:
- canada-style floats: ~unchanged (Clinger already covered them)
- high-precision (17 digits): parse 2.1x, accept 2.5x
- scientific (17 digits + exp): parse 3.6x, accept 4.1x
Verified: C++11 (Clinger/strtod) and C++17 (from_chars) parse every value -
including subnormals, boundary values, and 1e9999/1e-9999 over-/underflow -
to bit-identical results; 2M number-fuzz clean; conversions/deserialization/
locale/number-fast-path suites pass in both C++11 and C++17; clang-tidy
clean; warning-clean on g++ and clang in C++11/17/20.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01AXcDtEma2PjxgmPS9cQGzA
Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
scan_number() reads a number one character at a time through the input
adapter (get()) and appends each byte to token_buffer (add()) before
converting. For contiguous input, the per-character get()/add() overhead
dominates: it is roughly two thirds of the time spent on number-heavy
parsing, far more than the value conversion itself.
Add scan_number_bulk_contiguous(), which parses the whole number token
straight from the input buffer: it validates and classifies the extent
with the same grammar as scan_number()'s state machine, materializes
token_buffer in one copy (substituting the locale decimal point exactly as
scan_number() does), advances the adapter, and reuses the shared
convert_number() tail. On anything it does not recognize as a well-formed
number it makes no state change and returns token_type::uninitialized, so
the caller falls back to scan_number(), which then produces the exact
diagnostic. Errors and their positions are therefore unchanged.
The conversion tail is factored out of scan_number() into convert_number()
so both scanners share it; the fast path is selected by tag dispatch on the
existing bulk_scan capability, so streaming/wide/user adapters are
unaffected.
Measured on pointer input, g++ 13 -O3:
- integers: parse +65%, accept +98%
- floats: parse +39%, accept +70%
Verified: 2,000,000 randomized number documents (including overflow-range
integers, long digit strings and %.17g doubles) parse identically via the
contiguous path and the streaming byte path, matching value, type and
round-trip text; the locale suite and existing parser/lexer/conversions/
deserialization tests pass; a new "lexer number fast path" test checks
contiguous-vs-streaming parity, token classification, and that malformed
numbers are rejected identically. Pure C++11, no intrinsics.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01AXcDtEma2PjxgmPS9cQGzA
Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>