Run the json_view comparison on GitHub runners on demand

A workflow runs compare.py with pinned downloads on GitHub-hosted
Ubuntu runners and shows the results as the job summary and as an
artifact: started by hand (workflow_dispatch: x86-64 or AArch64, GCC or
Clang), or when a pull request gets the label "benchmark" (both
architectures, GCC). The label trigger gives numbers before the
workflow is on the default branch, which workflow_dispatch needs.
Shared runners are noisy, so the numbers show where json_view stands on
another architecture; published numbers still need a quiet machine.

compare.py takes the CPU name from lscpu where /proc/cpuinfo has none
(AArch64 Linux), and falls back to the architecture. Checked in Linux
containers (AArch64, Clang 15 and GCC 9, offline with the pinned
archives).

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\\.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/

BUILD.bazel

@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ cc_library(
         "include/nlohmann/detail/string_utils.hpp",
         "include/nlohmann/detail/value_t.hpp",
         "include/nlohmann/detail/view/builder.hpp",
+        "include/nlohmann/detail/view/compare.hpp",
         "include/nlohmann/detail/view/document_data.hpp",
         "include/nlohmann/detail/view/errors.hpp",
         "include/nlohmann/detail/view/input.hpp",

docs/docset/docSet.sql

@@ -178,6 +178,8 @@ INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_view::number_token
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_view::operator bool', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_view/operator_bool/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_view::operator<<', 'Operator', 'api/basic_json_view/operator_ltlt/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_view::operator[]', 'Operator', 'api/basic_json_view/operator[]/index.html');
+INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_view::operator==', 'Operator', 'api/basic_json_view/operator_eq/index.html');
+INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_view::operator!=', 'Operator', 'api/basic_json_view/operator_ne/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_view::size', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_view/size/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_view::source_offset', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_view/source_offset/index.html');
 INSERT INTO searchIndex(name, type, path) VALUES ('basic_json_view::type', 'Method', 'api/basic_json_view/type/index.html');

docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/operator_eq.md

@@ -166,6 +166,8 @@ Linear.
 
 - [operator!=](operator_ne.md) compare for inequality
 - [operator<=>](operator_spaceship.md) comparison: 3-way (C++20)
+- [basic_json_view::operator==](../basic_json_view/operator_eq.md) - the same comparison on a zero-copy view, without
+  building a `basic_json` value for it
 
 ## Version history
 

docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/operator_ne.md

@@ -89,6 +89,12 @@ Linear.
     --8<-- "examples/operator__notequal__nullptr_t.output"
     ```
 
+## See also
+
+- [operator==](operator_eq.md) compare for equality
+- [basic_json_view::operator!=](../basic_json_view/operator_ne.md) - the same comparison on a zero-copy view, without
+  building a `basic_json` value for it
+
 ## Version history
 
 1. Added in version 1.0.0. Added C++20 member functions in version 3.11.0. Changed in version 3.13.0 to remove 

docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_view/index.md

@@ -20,11 +20,12 @@ Moving the document itself does not invalidate its views: the index is heap-allo
 `basic_json_document` object.
 
 `basic_json_view` provides the read-only part of the `BasicJsonType` interface: the type-inspection functions, element
-access, lookup, iteration, and conversion -- [`get<T>()`](get.md), [`get_string()`](get_string.md),
+access, lookup, iteration, conversion, and comparison -- [`get<T>()`](get.md), [`get_string()`](get_string.md),
 [`number_token()`](number_token.md), and [`materialize()`](materialize.md) to build the `BasicJsonType` value of a
 subtree on demand. [`operator[]`](operator%5B%5D.md), [`at`](at.md), [`contains`](contains.md), and
-[`value`](value.md) also accept a [`json_pointer`](../json_pointer/index.md). It does not (yet) provide
-comparison.
+[`value`](value.md) also accept a [`json_pointer`](../json_pointer/index.md). [`operator==`](operator_eq.md) and
+[`operator!=`](operator_ne.md) compare two views, or a view and a `BasicJsonType` value, without ever building a
+`BasicJsonType` value for a view; no ordering comparison (`#!cpp operator<`) is provided.
 
 ## Template parameters
 
@@ -107,6 +108,11 @@ comparison.
 - [**number_token**](number_token.md) - get a number's token text without a copy
 - [**materialize**](materialize.md) - build the `BasicJsonType` value of this subtree
 
+### Comparison
+
+- [**operator==**](operator_eq.md) - comparison: equal
+- [**operator!=**](operator_ne.md) - comparison: not equal
+
 ### Serialization
 
 - [**dump**](dump.md) - serialize to a JSON-formatted string

docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_view/operator_eq.md

@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+# <small>nlohmann::basic_json_view::</small>operator==
+
+```cpp
+// (1)
+bool operator==(const basic_json_view& lhs, const basic_json_view& rhs);
+
+// (2)
+bool operator==(const basic_json_view& lhs, const BasicJsonType& rhs);
+bool operator==(const BasicJsonType& lhs, const basic_json_view& rhs);
+```
+
+1. Compares two views for equality: whether the values [`BasicJsonType::parse()`](../basic_json/parse.md) would
+   produce for `lhs` and `rhs` are equal, according to `BasicJsonType`'s [`operator==`](../basic_json/operator_eq.md).
+2. Compares a view and a `BasicJsonType` value for equality, in either order: whether the value `parse()` would
+   produce for the view and the other operand are equal, according to `BasicJsonType`'s
+   [`operator==`](../basic_json/operator_eq.md).
+
+Neither overload builds a `BasicJsonType` value for a view to do the comparison (see [Notes](#notes) below). Numbers
+compare by value across their types (`#!cpp 1 == 1.0`), and an object compares by its members, with duplicate keys
+resolved exactly as `parse()` resolves them -- the last value, at the position of the first occurrence of the key.
+
+## Parameters
+
+`lhs` (in)
+:   first value to consider
+
+`rhs` (in)
+:   second value to consider
+
+## Return value
+
+whether the values `lhs` and `rhs` are equal
+
+## Exception safety
+
+Strong exception safety: if an exception is thrown, there are no changes to either operand, or to the document(s) a
+view refers to.
+
+## Exceptions
+
+May throw `#!cpp std::bad_alloc`. Unlike the other comparison and most other `basic_json_view` functions,
+`operator==` is not `#!cpp noexcept`: resolving an object's members needs a temporary array to sort them by key (see
+[Complexity](#complexity) below), and that allocation can fail.
+
+## Complexity
+
+Linear in the size of the compared values: every number, string, array element, and object member is visited at most
+once, and the walk is iterative, so the nesting depth it can compare is limited by available memory only, not by the
+call stack (as for [`materialize()`](materialize.md)). Resolving an object's members takes an additional O(n log n)
+in the number of members at that level, since they are sorted by key to detect and resolve duplicates before being
+compared. Two arrays of different [`size()`](size.md) are rejected without visiting either one's elements.
+
+## Notes
+
+Only a single number, boolean, or `#!cpp null` value is ever materialized into a `BasicJsonType`, to reuse its
+`operator==` -- for numbers, so that values written differently in the source text but equal in value (e.g. an
+integer and a floating-point literal) still compare equal, following the same rules `BasicJsonType` does for special
+values such as `#!cpp NaN`. Constructing one of these scalars never allocates. Strings are compared directly, without
+allocating, either from the source text on both sides or, for overload 2, against `BasicJsonType`'s own string.
+Arrays and objects are never materialized at all; only their elements or members are visited, one pair at a time.
+
+!!! info "How objects are compared"
+
+    For a [`json_view`](../json_view.md) (`BasicJsonType::object_t` is `#!cpp std::map`), members are compared by
+    key, regardless of the order they appear in the source text. For an
+    [`ordered_json_view`](../ordered_json_view.md) (`object_t` is `ordered_map`), they are compared in the order
+    they occur, so the very same two objects with their members reordered can compare equal as `json_view`s but not
+    as `ordered_json_view`s. This is exactly how [`json`](../json.md) and [`ordered_json`](../ordered_json.md)
+    compare, see ["Comparing different `basic_json` specializations"](../basic_json/operator_eq.md#notes).
+
+!!! info "Discarded views"
+
+    A [discarded](is_discarded.md) view compares the same way a discarded `BasicJsonType` value does, which is
+    governed by
+    [`JSON_USE_LEGACY_DISCARDED_VALUE_COMPARISON`](../macros/json_use_legacy_discarded_value_comparison.md): by
+    default, a discarded view is never equal to anything, not even another discarded view.
+
+No ordering comparison (`#!cpp operator<`) is provided for `basic_json_view`; [`materialize()`](materialize.md) is
+the way to get a `BasicJsonType` value that supports it.
+
+## Examples
+
+??? example
+
+    The example below checks whether a newly received configuration differs from the previous one, and whether a
+    received document matches what a test expects -- directly on views, without ever materializing a `BasicJsonType`
+    value for either side.
+
+    ```cpp
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_view__operator_eq.cpp"
+    ```
+
+    Output:
+
+    ```json
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_view__operator_eq.output"
+    ```
+
+## See also
+
+- [operator!=](operator_ne.md) - compare for inequality
+- [materialize](materialize.md) - build a `BasicJsonType` value, e.g. to keep comparing after the document is gone
+- [`BasicJsonType::operator==`](../basic_json/operator_eq.md) - the corresponding function of `basic_json`
+
+## Version history
+
+- Added in version 3.13.0.

docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_view/operator_ne.md

@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+# <small>nlohmann::basic_json_view::</small>operator!=
+
+```cpp
+// (1)
+bool operator!=(const basic_json_view& lhs, const basic_json_view& rhs);
+
+// (2)
+bool operator!=(const basic_json_view& lhs, const BasicJsonType& rhs);
+bool operator!=(const BasicJsonType& lhs, const basic_json_view& rhs);
+```
+
+1. Compares two views for inequality. Returns `#!cpp !(lhs == rhs)`, see [operator==](operator_eq.md).
+2. Compares a view and a `BasicJsonType` value for inequality, in either order. Returns `#!cpp !(lhs == rhs)` (or,
+   for the reversed order, `#!cpp !(rhs == lhs)`), see [operator==](operator_eq.md).
+
+Since `operator!=` is defined as the negation of [`operator==`](operator_eq.md), it follows the same rules for
+special cases: for instance, since a [discarded](is_discarded.md) view is never equal to anything by default (see
+[operator=='s Notes](operator_eq.md#notes)), it is never *unequal* to anything either -- `#!cpp discarded != discarded`
+is also `#!cpp false`, exactly as for a discarded `BasicJsonType` value.
+
+## Parameters
+
+`lhs` (in)
+:   first value to consider
+
+`rhs` (in)
+:   second value to consider
+
+## Return value
+
+whether the values `lhs` and `rhs` are not equal
+
+## Exception safety
+
+Strong exception safety: if an exception is thrown, there are no changes to either operand, or to the document(s) a
+view refers to.
+
+## Exceptions
+
+May throw `#!cpp std::bad_alloc`, propagated from [`operator==`](operator_eq.md#exceptions). Unlike most other
+`basic_json_view` functions, `operator!=` is not `#!cpp noexcept`.
+
+## Complexity
+
+Linear, as [`operator==`](operator_eq.md#complexity).
+
+## Notes
+
+See the [Notes](operator_eq.md#notes) of `operator==` -- in particular for how an object's members are compared
+(order matters for [`ordered_json_view`](../ordered_json_view.md) but not for [`json_view`](../json_view.md)) and
+for how discarded views compare.
+
+No ordering comparison (`#!cpp operator<`) is provided for `basic_json_view`; [`materialize()`](materialize.md) is
+the way to get a `BasicJsonType` value that supports it.
+
+## Examples
+
+??? example
+
+    The example below asserts, as a test would, that a received document differs from an unwanted value, and shows
+    that -- as for [`json`](../json.md)/[`ordered_json`](../ordered_json.md) -- reordering an object's members is
+    detected as a difference for an `ordered_json_view` but not for a `json_view`.
+
+    ```cpp
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_view__operator_ne.cpp"
+    ```
+
+    Output:
+
+    ```json
+    --8<-- "examples/basic_json_view__operator_ne.output"
+    ```
+
+## See also
+
+- [operator==](operator_eq.md) - compare for equality
+- [materialize](materialize.md) - build a `BasicJsonType` value, e.g. to keep comparing after the document is gone
+- [`BasicJsonType::operator!=`](../basic_json/operator_ne.md) - the corresponding function of `basic_json`
+
+## Version history
+
+- Added in version 3.13.0.

docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_view__operator_eq.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#include <iostream>
+#include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>
+
+using json_document = nlohmann::json_document;
+using json = nlohmann::json;
+
+int main()
+{
+    // two snapshots of a polled configuration endpoint -- compare them
+    // directly as views, without ever building a nlohmann::json value for
+    // either one
+    const json_document previous = json_document::parse(
+                                        R"({"name": "cache", "port": 6379, "timeout": 30})");
+    const json_document current = json_document::parse(
+                                       R"({"port": 6379.0, "timeout": 30, "name": "cache"})");
+
+    // same members, reordered, and 6379 written as a float -- operator==
+    // treats them the same way BasicJsonType::operator== would
+    std::cout << std::boolalpha << (previous.root() == current.root()) << '\n';
+
+    // an actually changed value is detected the same way
+    const json_document changed = json_document::parse(
+                                       R"({"name": "cache", "port": 6380, "timeout": 30})");
+    std::cout << (previous.root() == changed.root()) << '\n';
+
+    // comparing a view directly against an expected json value -- handy in a
+    // test, without materializing the received document at all
+    const json expected = {{"name", "cache"}, {"port", 6379}, {"timeout", 30}};
+    std::cout << (previous.root() == expected) << '\n';
+}

docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_view__operator_eq.output

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+true
+false
+true

docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_view__operator_ne.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#include <iostream>
+#include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>
+
+using json_document = nlohmann::json_document;
+using ordered_json_document = nlohmann::ordered_json_document;
+using json = nlohmann::json;
+
+int main()
+{
+    // assert, as a test would, that a received document differs from an
+    // unwanted shape -- without ever materializing it into a json value just
+    // to compare
+    const json_document received = json_document::parse(
+                                        R"({"status": "ok", "code": 200})");
+    const json unwanted = {{"status", "error"}, {"code", 500}};
+    std::cout << std::boolalpha << (received.root() != unwanted) << '\n';
+
+    // json (std::map) compares object members regardless of order ...
+    const json_document a = json_document::parse(R"({"a": 1, "b": 2})");
+    const json_document b = json_document::parse(R"({"b": 2, "a": 1})");
+    std::cout << (a.root() != b.root()) << '\n';
+
+    // ... but ordered_json (ordered_map) compares them in the order they
+    // appear, so the very same reordering is detected as a difference
+    const ordered_json_document oa = ordered_json_document::parse(R"({"a": 1, "b": 2})");
+    const ordered_json_document ob = ordered_json_document::parse(R"({"b": 2, "a": 1})");
+    std::cout << (oa.root() != ob.root()) << '\n';
+}

docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/basic_json_view__operator_ne.output

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+true
+false
+true

docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view.md

@@ -139,7 +139,11 @@ whenever any of the other conditions above was not met.
   element access and lookup functions never carry the JSON Pointer path `JSON_DIAGNOSTICS` would otherwise add: the
   view has no `basic_json` value to point at, so the exception is created without one, regardless of how
   `BasicJsonType` was built.
-- **Comparison is not (yet) provided** by `basic_json_view`. For now,
+- **Ordering comparisons are not provided** by `basic_json_view` -- there is no `#!cpp operator<`.
+  [`operator==`](../api/basic_json_view/operator_eq.md) and [`operator!=`](../api/basic_json_view/operator_ne.md) are
+  provided, though: two views, or a view and a `BasicJsonType` value, compare equal exactly when
+  [`materialize()`](../api/basic_json_view/materialize.md) or [`parse()`](../api/basic_json/parse.md) would produce
+  equal values for them, without ever building a tree to do it. For ordering, too,
   [`materialize()`](../api/basic_json_view/materialize.md) is the way to get a value you can compare.
 
 ## Getting values out without copying

docs/mkdocs/mkdocs.yml

@@ -281,6 +281,8 @@ nav:
           - 'operator bool': api/basic_json_view/operator_bool.md
           - 'operator<<': api/basic_json_view/operator_ltlt.md
           - 'operator[]': api/basic_json_view/operator[].md
+          - 'operator==': api/basic_json_view/operator_eq.md
+          - 'operator!=': api/basic_json_view/operator_ne.md
           - 'size': api/basic_json_view/size.md
           - 'source_offset': api/basic_json_view/source_offset.md
           - 'type': api/basic_json_view/type.md

include/nlohmann/detail/view/compare.hpp

@@ -0,0 +1,317 @@
+//     __ _____ _____ _____
+//  __|  |   __|     |   | |  JSON for Modern C++
+// |  |  |__   |  |  | | | |  version 3.12.0
+// |_____|_____|_____|_|___|  https://github.com/nlohmann/json
+//
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2013-2026 Niels Lohmann <https://nlohmann.me>
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <algorithm> // sort, stable_sort
+#include <cstddef> // size_t
+#include <string> // string
+#include <utility> // move, pair
+#include <vector> // vector
+
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+#include <nlohmann/detail/view/macro_scope.hpp>
+
+NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
+namespace detail
+{
+namespace view
+{
+
+// Equality of views, and of views with basic_json values, with the semantics
+// of basic_json's operator== applied to the values parse() would produce:
+// numbers compare by value across their types, an object is compared by its
+// members with duplicate keys resolved as parse() resolves them (the last
+// value, at the position of the first occurrence), and in document order if
+// the object type keeps an order (ordered_json), by key otherwise.
+
+/// one side of a comparison: a view
+template<typename BasicJsonType, typename View>
+class view_side
+{
+  public:
+    using string_view_t = typename View::string_view_t;
+
+    explicit view_side(const View& v) noexcept
+        : m_view(v)
+    {}
+
+    value_t type() const noexcept
+    {
+        return m_view.type();
+    }
+
+    std::size_t size() const noexcept
+    {
+        return m_view.size();
+    }
+
+    string_view_t string() const
+    {
+        return m_view.get_string();
+    }
+
+    /// a number, boolean, or null as a basic_json value (no allocation)
+    BasicJsonType scalar() const
+    {
+        switch (m_view.type())
+        {
+            case value_t::number_integer:
+                return BasicJsonType(m_view.template get<typename BasicJsonType::number_integer_t>());
+            case value_t::number_unsigned:
+                return BasicJsonType(m_view.template get<typename BasicJsonType::number_unsigned_t>());
+            case value_t::number_float:
+                return BasicJsonType(m_view.template get<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>());
+            case value_t::boolean:
+                return BasicJsonType(m_view.template get<bool>());
+            case value_t::null:
+            case value_t::object:
+            case value_t::array:
+            case value_t::string:
+            case value_t::binary:
+            case value_t::discarded:
+            default:
+                return BasicJsonType(nullptr);
+        }
+    }
+
+    void elements(std::vector<view_side>& out) const
+    {
+        out.reserve(m_view.size());
+        for (const View e : m_view)
+        {
+            out.emplace_back(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// the members as parse() keeps them: one per key, the last value at the
+    /// position of the first occurrence; in that order, or sorted by key
+    void members(std::vector<std::pair<string_view_t, view_side>>& out, bool ordered) const
+    {
+        struct member
+        {
+            string_view_t key;
+            View value;
+            std::size_t position;
+        };
+        std::vector<member> all;
+        all.reserve(m_view.size());
+        std::size_t position = 0;
+        for (auto it = m_view.begin(); it != m_view.end(); ++it)
+        {
+            all.push_back(member{it.key(), it.value(), position++});
+        }
+        std::stable_sort(all.begin(), all.end(), [](const member & a, const member & b)
+        {
+            return a.key < b.key;
+        });
+        std::vector<member> unique;
+        unique.reserve(all.size());
+        for (std::size_t i = 0; i < all.size();)
+        {
+            std::size_t last = i;
+            while (last + 1 < all.size() && all[last + 1].key == all[i].key)
+            {
+                ++last;
+            }
+            unique.push_back(member{all[i].key, all[last].value, all[i].position});
+            i = last + 1;
+        }
+        if (ordered)
+        {
+            std::sort(unique.begin(), unique.end(), [](const member & a, const member & b)
+            {
+                return a.position < b.position;
+            });
+        }
+        out.reserve(unique.size());
+        for (const member& m : unique)
+        {
+            out.emplace_back(m.key, view_side(m.value));
+        }
+    }
+
+  private:
+    View m_view;
+};
+
+/// the other side of a comparison: a basic_json value
+template<typename BasicJsonType, typename StringView>
+class json_side
+{
+  public:
+    using string_view_t = StringView;
+
+    explicit json_side(const BasicJsonType& j) noexcept
+        : m_json(&j)
+    {}
+
+    value_t type() const noexcept
+    {
+        return m_json->type();
+    }
+
+    std::size_t size() const noexcept
+    {
+        return m_json->size();
+    }
+
+    string_view_t string() const
+    {
+        const auto& s = m_json->template get_ref<const typename BasicJsonType::string_t&>();
+        return string_view_t(s.data(), s.size());
+    }
+
+    BasicJsonType scalar() const
+    {
+        return *m_json;
+    }
+
+    void elements(std::vector<json_side>& out) const
+    {
+        out.reserve(m_json->size());
+        for (const auto& e : *m_json)
+        {
+            out.emplace_back(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    void members(std::vector<std::pair<string_view_t, json_side>>& out, bool ordered) const
+    {
+        out.reserve(m_json->size());
+        for (auto it = m_json->cbegin(); it != m_json->cend(); ++it)
+        {
+            out.emplace_back(string_view_t(it.key().data(), it.key().size()), json_side(it.value()));
+        }
+        if (!ordered)
+        {
+            std::sort(out.begin(), out.end(), [](const std::pair<string_view_t, json_side>& a, const std::pair<string_view_t, json_side>& b)
+            {
+                return a.first < b.first;
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
+  private:
+    const BasicJsonType* m_json;
+};
+
+/// whether two sides are equal; iterative, so that the nesting depth is
+/// limited by memory only
+template<typename BasicJsonType, typename A, typename B>
+bool equal(const A& a0, const B& b0)
+{
+    using string_view_t = typename A::string_view_t;
+    const bool ordered = is_ordered_map<typename BasicJsonType::object_t>::value;
+
+    struct frame
+    {
+        std::vector<A> elements_a{};
+        std::vector<B> elements_b{};
+        std::vector<std::pair<string_view_t, A>> members_a{};
+        std::vector<std::pair<string_view_t, B>> members_b{};
+        bool object = false;
+        std::size_t next = 0;
+    };
+    std::vector<frame> stack;
+    A a = a0;
+    B b = b0;
+    for (;;)
+    {
+        const value_t ta = a.type();
+        const value_t tb = b.type();
+        const bool numbers = (ta == value_t::number_integer || ta == value_t::number_unsigned || ta == value_t::number_float)
+                             && (tb == value_t::number_integer || tb == value_t::number_unsigned || tb == value_t::number_float);
+        if (ta == value_t::discarded || tb == value_t::discarded)
+        {
+            // basic_json decides (JSON_USE_LEGACY_DISCARDED_VALUE_COMPARISON)
+            if (ta != tb || !(BasicJsonType(value_t::discarded) == BasicJsonType(value_t::discarded)))
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            if (!numbers && ta != tb)
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+            if (ta == value_t::string)
+            {
+                if (!(a.string() == b.string()))
+                {
+                    return false;
+                }
+            }
+            else if (ta == value_t::array || ta == value_t::object)
+            {
+                if (a.size() != b.size() && ta == value_t::array)
+                {
+                    return false;
+                }
+                frame f;
+                f.object = ta == value_t::object;
+                if (f.object)
+                {
+                    a.members(f.members_a, ordered);
+                    b.members(f.members_b, ordered);
+                    if (f.members_a.size() != f.members_b.size())
+                    {
+                        return false;
+                    }
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    a.elements(f.elements_a);
+                    b.elements(f.elements_b);
+                }
+                stack.push_back(std::move(f));
+            }
+            else if (!(a.scalar() == b.scalar())) // numbers (also of different types), null, boolean
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // the next pair of values
+        for (;;)
+        {
+            if (stack.empty())
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+            frame& f = stack.back();
+            const std::size_t count = f.object ? f.members_a.size() : f.elements_a.size();
+            if (f.next == count)
+            {
+                stack.pop_back();
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (f.object)
+            {
+                if (!(f.members_a[f.next].first == f.members_b[f.next].first))
+                {
+                    return false;
+                }
+                a = f.members_a[f.next].second;
+                b = f.members_b[f.next].second;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                a = f.elements_a[f.next];
+                b = f.elements_b[f.next];
+            }
+            ++f.next;
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+}  // namespace view
+}  // namespace detail
+NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_END

include/nlohmann/detail/view/materialize.hpp

@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ BasicJsonType materialize(const document_data& d, const node* n)
                 ++n;
                 break;
             case value_t::number_float:
-                sax.number_float(float_value<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>(d.str(*n), *n), no_token);
+                sax.number_float(float_value<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>(d, *n), no_token);
                 ++n;
                 break;
             case value_t::boolean:

include/nlohmann/detail/view/number.hpp

@@ -8,12 +8,19 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include <array> // array
+#include <cfloat> // FLT_EVAL_METHOD
 #include <cstddef> // size_t
+#include <cstdint> // int64_t, uint64_t
+#include <cstring> // memcpy
 #include <string> // string
+#include <type_traits> // integral_constant, is_same
 
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+#include <nlohmann/detail/view/document_data.hpp>
 #include <nlohmann/detail/view/macro_scope.hpp>
 #include <nlohmann/detail/view/node.hpp>
+#include <nlohmann/detail/view/scan.hpp>
 
 NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 namespace detail
@@ -68,6 +75,96 @@ NLOHMANN_VIEW_NOINLINE FloatType float_value(const char* first, const node& n)
     return v;
 }
 
+/*!
+@brief the double of a float token with at most 19 digits, from its layout
+
+The digit layout recorded while parsing says where the integer digits, the
+fraction digits, and the exponent are, so the digits are read eight at a
+time without scanning. The result is correctly rounded (Clinger's fast path
+where both operands are exact, else the Eisel-Lemire algorithm, which needs
+no fallback for up to 19 digits), so it is the value parse() produces.
+
+@param[in] p  first character of the token
+@param[in] e  end of the token
+@param[in] limit  end of the readable memory (the source text)
+*/
+NLOHMANN_VIEW_ALWAYS_INLINE double layout_double(const unsigned char* p, const unsigned char* e, unsigned int_digits, unsigned frac_digits, const unsigned char* limit) noexcept
+{
+    const bool negative = *p == '-';
+    p += negative ? 1 : 0;
+    std::uint64_t w = parse_upto19(p, int_digits, limit);
+    p += int_digits;
+    std::int64_t q = 0;
+    if (frac_digits != 0)
+    {
+        w = (w * int_pow10(frac_digits)) + parse_upto19(p + 1, frac_digits, limit);
+        p += 1 + frac_digits;
+        q = -static_cast<std::int64_t>(frac_digits);
+    }
+    if (p != e)
+    {
+        // [eE][+-]digits; huge exponents saturate (the parser rejected overflow)
+        ++p;
+        const bool exp_negative = *p == '-';
+        p += (*p == '-' || *p == '+') ? 1 : 0;
+        std::int64_t exp_value = 0;
+        for (; p != e; ++p)
+        {
+            if (exp_value < 0x10000000)
+            {
+                exp_value = (exp_value * 10) + (*p - '0');
+            }
+        }
+        q += exp_negative ? -exp_value : exp_value;
+    }
+
+    double result = 0;
+    if (w != 0)
+    {
+#if !defined(FLT_EVAL_METHOD) || FLT_EVAL_METHOD == 0
+        static const std::array<double, 23> pow10 = {{1e0, 1e1, 1e2, 1e3, 1e4, 1e5, 1e6, 1e7, 1e8, 1e9, 1e10, 1e11, 1e12, 1e13, 1e14, 1e15, 1e16, 1e17, 1e18, 1e19, 1e20, 1e21, 1e22}};
+        if (q >= -22 && q <= 22 && w <= (std::uint64_t{1} << 53))
+        {
+            // Clinger's fast path: both operands exact, one rounding
+            result = static_cast<double>(w);
+            result = q < 0 ? result / pow10[static_cast<std::size_t>(-q)] : result * pow10[static_cast<std::size_t>(q)];
+            return negative ? -result : result;
+        }
+#endif
+        const std::uint64_t bits = eisel_lemire(q, w);
+        std::memcpy(&result, &bits, sizeof(result));
+    }
+    return negative ? -result : result;
+}
+
+/// the value of the float token of a node, as parse() converts it; doubles
+/// with at most 19 digits are converted from the digit layout
+template<typename FloatType>
+FloatType float_value(const document_data& d, const node& n)
+{
+    return float_value<FloatType>(d, n, std::is_same<FloatType, double> {});
+}
+
+template<typename FloatType>
+FloatType float_value(const document_data& d, const node& n, std::true_type /*double*/)
+{
+    const unsigned int_digits = n.extra & 0xFFu;
+    const unsigned frac_digits = n.extra >> 8u;
+    if (NLOHMANN_VIEW_LIKELY(int_digits + frac_digits <= 19)) // (255 marks "many")
+    {
+        // (a float token not written by an edit is in the text)
+        const auto* const first = reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char*>(d.src + n.off); // NOLINT(cppcoreguidelines-pro-type-reinterpret-cast)
+        return layout_double(first, first + n.len, int_digits, frac_digits, reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char*>(d.src + d.size)); // NOLINT(cppcoreguidelines-pro-type-reinterpret-cast)
+    }
+    return float_value<FloatType>(d.str(n), n);
+}
+
+template<typename FloatType>
+FloatType float_value(const document_data& d, const node& n, std::false_type /*other*/)
+{
+    return float_value<FloatType>(d.str(n), n);
+}
+
 }  // namespace view
 }  // namespace detail
 NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_END

include/nlohmann/detail/view/serializer.hpp

@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ class view_serializer
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    write_float(float_value<number_float_t>(m_doc.str(n), n));
+                    write_float(float_value<number_float_t>(m_doc, n));
                 }
                 break;
             case value_t::object:    // LCOV_EXCL_LINE (containers are written by dump())

include/nlohmann/detail/view/value.hpp

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ NLOHMANN_VIEW_ALWAYS_INLINE T arithmetic_value(const document_data& d, const nod
         case value_t::number_integer:
             return static_cast<T>(static_cast<typename BasicJsonType::number_integer_t>(static_cast<std::int64_t>(integer_bits(n))));
         case value_t::number_float:
-            return static_cast<T>(float_value<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>(d.str(n), n));
+            return static_cast<T>(float_value<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>(d, n));
         case value_t::boolean:
             return static_cast<T>((n.flags & node_flags::is_true) != 0);
         case value_t::null:

include/nlohmann/json_view.hpp

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #include <nlohmann/detail/view/builder.hpp>
+#include <nlohmann/detail/view/compare.hpp>
 #include <nlohmann/detail/view/document_data.hpp>
 #include <nlohmann/detail/view/errors.hpp>
 #include <nlohmann/detail/view/input.hpp>
@@ -603,6 +604,44 @@ class basic_json_view
     }
 #endif
 
+    ////////////////
+    // comparison //
+    ////////////////
+
+    /// whether the values parse() would produce for two views are equal, as
+    /// by BasicJsonType's operator== (numbers by value, objects by their
+    /// members with duplicate keys resolved as parse() resolves them)
+    friend bool operator==(const basic_json_view& a, const basic_json_view& b)
+    {
+        return detail::view::equal<BasicJsonType>(side(a), side(b));
+    }
+
+    friend bool operator!=(const basic_json_view& a, const basic_json_view& b)
+    {
+        return !(a == b);
+    }
+
+    /// whether the value parse() would produce for a view equals a value
+    friend bool operator==(const basic_json_view& a, const BasicJsonType& j)
+    {
+        return detail::view::equal<BasicJsonType>(side(a), json_side_t(j));
+    }
+
+    friend bool operator==(const BasicJsonType& j, const basic_json_view& a)
+    {
+        return a == j;
+    }
+
+    friend bool operator!=(const basic_json_view& a, const BasicJsonType& j)
+    {
+        return !(a == j);
+    }
+
+    friend bool operator!=(const BasicJsonType& j, const basic_json_view& a)
+    {
+        return !(a == j);
+    }
+
     /////////////////
     // materialize //
     /////////////////
@@ -635,6 +674,13 @@ class basic_json_view
         : m_doc(d), m_node(n)
     {}
 
+    using json_side_t = detail::view::json_side<BasicJsonType, string_view_t>;
+
+    static detail::view::view_side<BasicJsonType, basic_json_view> side(const basic_json_view& v) noexcept
+    {
+        return detail::view::view_side<BasicJsonType, basic_json_view>(v);
+    }
+
     /// the number of source bytes of this value (estimated for values with
     /// decoded strings)
     std::size_t source_extent() const noexcept

single_include/nlohmann/json_view.hpp

@@ -1567,6 +1567,326 @@ inline bool build(document_data& d, const char* src, std::size_t size, bool comm
 }  // namespace detail
 NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_END
 
+// #include <nlohmann/detail/view/compare.hpp>
+//     __ _____ _____ _____
+//  __|  |   __|     |   | |  JSON for Modern C++
+// |  |  |__   |  |  | | | |  version 3.12.0
+// |_____|_____|_____|_|___|  https://github.com/nlohmann/json
+//
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2013-2026 Niels Lohmann <https://nlohmann.me>
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+
+
+#include <algorithm> // sort, stable_sort
+#include <cstddef> // size_t
+#include <string> // string
+#include <utility> // move, pair
+#include <vector> // vector
+
+// #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+// #include <nlohmann/detail/view/macro_scope.hpp>
+
+
+NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
+namespace detail
+{
+namespace view
+{
+
+// Equality of views, and of views with basic_json values, with the semantics
+// of basic_json's operator== applied to the values parse() would produce:
+// numbers compare by value across their types, an object is compared by its
+// members with duplicate keys resolved as parse() resolves them (the last
+// value, at the position of the first occurrence), and in document order if
+// the object type keeps an order (ordered_json), by key otherwise.
+
+/// one side of a comparison: a view
+template<typename BasicJsonType, typename View>
+class view_side
+{
+  public:
+    using string_view_t = typename View::string_view_t;
+
+    explicit view_side(const View& v) noexcept
+        : m_view(v)
+    {}
+
+    value_t type() const noexcept
+    {
+        return m_view.type();
+    }
+
+    std::size_t size() const noexcept
+    {
+        return m_view.size();
+    }
+
+    string_view_t string() const
+    {
+        return m_view.get_string();
+    }
+
+    /// a number, boolean, or null as a basic_json value (no allocation)
+    BasicJsonType scalar() const
+    {
+        switch (m_view.type())
+        {
+            case value_t::number_integer:
+                return BasicJsonType(m_view.template get<typename BasicJsonType::number_integer_t>());
+            case value_t::number_unsigned:
+                return BasicJsonType(m_view.template get<typename BasicJsonType::number_unsigned_t>());
+            case value_t::number_float:
+                return BasicJsonType(m_view.template get<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>());
+            case value_t::boolean:
+                return BasicJsonType(m_view.template get<bool>());
+            case value_t::null:
+            case value_t::object:
+            case value_t::array:
+            case value_t::string:
+            case value_t::binary:
+            case value_t::discarded:
+            default:
+                return BasicJsonType(nullptr);
+        }
+    }
+
+    void elements(std::vector<view_side>& out) const
+    {
+        out.reserve(m_view.size());
+        for (const View e : m_view)
+        {
+            out.emplace_back(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// the members as parse() keeps them: one per key, the last value at the
+    /// position of the first occurrence; in that order, or sorted by key
+    void members(std::vector<std::pair<string_view_t, view_side>>& out, bool ordered) const
+    {
+        struct member
+        {
+            string_view_t key;
+            View value;
+            std::size_t position;
+        };
+        std::vector<member> all;
+        all.reserve(m_view.size());
+        std::size_t position = 0;
+        for (auto it = m_view.begin(); it != m_view.end(); ++it)
+        {
+            all.push_back(member{it.key(), it.value(), position++});
+        }
+        std::stable_sort(all.begin(), all.end(), [](const member & a, const member & b)
+        {
+            return a.key < b.key;
+        });
+        std::vector<member> unique;
+        unique.reserve(all.size());
+        for (std::size_t i = 0; i < all.size();)
+        {
+            std::size_t last = i;
+            while (last + 1 < all.size() && all[last + 1].key == all[i].key)
+            {
+                ++last;
+            }
+            unique.push_back(member{all[i].key, all[last].value, all[i].position});
+            i = last + 1;
+        }
+        if (ordered)
+        {
+            std::sort(unique.begin(), unique.end(), [](const member & a, const member & b)
+            {
+                return a.position < b.position;
+            });
+        }
+        out.reserve(unique.size());
+        for (const member& m : unique)
+        {
+            out.emplace_back(m.key, view_side(m.value));
+        }
+    }
+
+  private:
+    View m_view;
+};
+
+/// the other side of a comparison: a basic_json value
+template<typename BasicJsonType, typename StringView>
+class json_side
+{
+  public:
+    using string_view_t = StringView;
+
+    explicit json_side(const BasicJsonType& j) noexcept
+        : m_json(&j)
+    {}
+
+    value_t type() const noexcept
+    {
+        return m_json->type();
+    }
+
+    std::size_t size() const noexcept
+    {
+        return m_json->size();
+    }
+
+    string_view_t string() const
+    {
+        const auto& s = m_json->template get_ref<const typename BasicJsonType::string_t&>();
+        return string_view_t(s.data(), s.size());
+    }
+
+    BasicJsonType scalar() const
+    {
+        return *m_json;
+    }
+
+    void elements(std::vector<json_side>& out) const
+    {
+        out.reserve(m_json->size());
+        for (const auto& e : *m_json)
+        {
+            out.emplace_back(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    void members(std::vector<std::pair<string_view_t, json_side>>& out, bool ordered) const
+    {
+        out.reserve(m_json->size());
+        for (auto it = m_json->cbegin(); it != m_json->cend(); ++it)
+        {
+            out.emplace_back(string_view_t(it.key().data(), it.key().size()), json_side(it.value()));
+        }
+        if (!ordered)
+        {
+            std::sort(out.begin(), out.end(), [](const std::pair<string_view_t, json_side>& a, const std::pair<string_view_t, json_side>& b)
+            {
+                return a.first < b.first;
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
+  private:
+    const BasicJsonType* m_json;
+};
+
+/// whether two sides are equal; iterative, so that the nesting depth is
+/// limited by memory only
+template<typename BasicJsonType, typename A, typename B>
+bool equal(const A& a0, const B& b0)
+{
+    using string_view_t = typename A::string_view_t;
+    const bool ordered = is_ordered_map<typename BasicJsonType::object_t>::value;
+
+    struct frame
+    {
+        std::vector<A> elements_a{};
+        std::vector<B> elements_b{};
+        std::vector<std::pair<string_view_t, A>> members_a{};
+        std::vector<std::pair<string_view_t, B>> members_b{};
+        bool object = false;
+        std::size_t next = 0;
+    };
+    std::vector<frame> stack;
+    A a = a0;
+    B b = b0;
+    for (;;)
+    {
+        const value_t ta = a.type();
+        const value_t tb = b.type();
+        const bool numbers = (ta == value_t::number_integer || ta == value_t::number_unsigned || ta == value_t::number_float)
+                             && (tb == value_t::number_integer || tb == value_t::number_unsigned || tb == value_t::number_float);
+        if (ta == value_t::discarded || tb == value_t::discarded)
+        {
+            // basic_json decides (JSON_USE_LEGACY_DISCARDED_VALUE_COMPARISON)
+            if (ta != tb || !(BasicJsonType(value_t::discarded) == BasicJsonType(value_t::discarded)))
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            if (!numbers && ta != tb)
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+            if (ta == value_t::string)
+            {
+                if (!(a.string() == b.string()))
+                {
+                    return false;
+                }
+            }
+            else if (ta == value_t::array || ta == value_t::object)
+            {
+                if (a.size() != b.size() && ta == value_t::array)
+                {
+                    return false;
+                }
+                frame f;
+                f.object = ta == value_t::object;
+                if (f.object)
+                {
+                    a.members(f.members_a, ordered);
+                    b.members(f.members_b, ordered);
+                    if (f.members_a.size() != f.members_b.size())
+                    {
+                        return false;
+                    }
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    a.elements(f.elements_a);
+                    b.elements(f.elements_b);
+                }
+                stack.push_back(std::move(f));
+            }
+            else if (!(a.scalar() == b.scalar())) // numbers (also of different types), null, boolean
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // the next pair of values
+        for (;;)
+        {
+            if (stack.empty())
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+            frame& f = stack.back();
+            const std::size_t count = f.object ? f.members_a.size() : f.elements_a.size();
+            if (f.next == count)
+            {
+                stack.pop_back();
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (f.object)
+            {
+                if (!(f.members_a[f.next].first == f.members_b[f.next].first))
+                {
+                    return false;
+                }
+                a = f.members_a[f.next].second;
+                b = f.members_b[f.next].second;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                a = f.elements_a[f.next];
+                b = f.elements_b[f.next];
+            }
+            ++f.next;
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+}  // namespace view
+}  // namespace detail
+NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_END
+
 // #include <nlohmann/detail/view/document_data.hpp>
 
 // #include <nlohmann/detail/view/errors.hpp>
@@ -2203,14 +2523,23 @@ NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_END
 
 
 
+#include <array> // array
+#include <cfloat> // FLT_EVAL_METHOD
 #include <cstddef> // size_t
+#include <cstdint> // int64_t, uint64_t
+#include <cstring> // memcpy
 #include <string> // string
+#include <type_traits> // integral_constant, is_same
 
 // #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+// #include <nlohmann/detail/view/document_data.hpp>
+
 // #include <nlohmann/detail/view/macro_scope.hpp>
 
 // #include <nlohmann/detail/view/node.hpp>
 
+// #include <nlohmann/detail/view/scan.hpp>
+
 
 NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 namespace detail
@@ -2265,6 +2594,96 @@ NLOHMANN_VIEW_NOINLINE FloatType float_value(const char* first, const node& n)
     return v;
 }
 
+/*!
+@brief the double of a float token with at most 19 digits, from its layout
+
+The digit layout recorded while parsing says where the integer digits, the
+fraction digits, and the exponent are, so the digits are read eight at a
+time without scanning. The result is correctly rounded (Clinger's fast path
+where both operands are exact, else the Eisel-Lemire algorithm, which needs
+no fallback for up to 19 digits), so it is the value parse() produces.
+
+@param[in] p  first character of the token
+@param[in] e  end of the token
+@param[in] limit  end of the readable memory (the source text)
+*/
+NLOHMANN_VIEW_ALWAYS_INLINE double layout_double(const unsigned char* p, const unsigned char* e, unsigned int_digits, unsigned frac_digits, const unsigned char* limit) noexcept
+{
+    const bool negative = *p == '-';
+    p += negative ? 1 : 0;
+    std::uint64_t w = parse_upto19(p, int_digits, limit);
+    p += int_digits;
+    std::int64_t q = 0;
+    if (frac_digits != 0)
+    {
+        w = (w * int_pow10(frac_digits)) + parse_upto19(p + 1, frac_digits, limit);
+        p += 1 + frac_digits;
+        q = -static_cast<std::int64_t>(frac_digits);
+    }
+    if (p != e)
+    {
+        // [eE][+-]digits; huge exponents saturate (the parser rejected overflow)
+        ++p;
+        const bool exp_negative = *p == '-';
+        p += (*p == '-' || *p == '+') ? 1 : 0;
+        std::int64_t exp_value = 0;
+        for (; p != e; ++p)
+        {
+            if (exp_value < 0x10000000)
+            {
+                exp_value = (exp_value * 10) + (*p - '0');
+            }
+        }
+        q += exp_negative ? -exp_value : exp_value;
+    }
+
+    double result = 0;
+    if (w != 0)
+    {
+#if !defined(FLT_EVAL_METHOD) || FLT_EVAL_METHOD == 0
+        static const std::array<double, 23> pow10 = {{1e0, 1e1, 1e2, 1e3, 1e4, 1e5, 1e6, 1e7, 1e8, 1e9, 1e10, 1e11, 1e12, 1e13, 1e14, 1e15, 1e16, 1e17, 1e18, 1e19, 1e20, 1e21, 1e22}};
+        if (q >= -22 && q <= 22 && w <= (std::uint64_t{1} << 53))
+        {
+            // Clinger's fast path: both operands exact, one rounding
+            result = static_cast<double>(w);
+            result = q < 0 ? result / pow10[static_cast<std::size_t>(-q)] : result * pow10[static_cast<std::size_t>(q)];
+            return negative ? -result : result;
+        }
+#endif
+        const std::uint64_t bits = eisel_lemire(q, w);
+        std::memcpy(&result, &bits, sizeof(result));
+    }
+    return negative ? -result : result;
+}
+
+/// the value of the float token of a node, as parse() converts it; doubles
+/// with at most 19 digits are converted from the digit layout
+template<typename FloatType>
+FloatType float_value(const document_data& d, const node& n)
+{
+    return float_value<FloatType>(d, n, std::is_same<FloatType, double> {});
+}
+
+template<typename FloatType>
+FloatType float_value(const document_data& d, const node& n, std::true_type /*double*/)
+{
+    const unsigned int_digits = n.extra & 0xFFu;
+    const unsigned frac_digits = n.extra >> 8u;
+    if (NLOHMANN_VIEW_LIKELY(int_digits + frac_digits <= 19)) // (255 marks "many")
+    {
+        // (a float token not written by an edit is in the text)
+        const auto* const first = reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char*>(d.src + n.off); // NOLINT(cppcoreguidelines-pro-type-reinterpret-cast)
+        return layout_double(first, first + n.len, int_digits, frac_digits, reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char*>(d.src + d.size)); // NOLINT(cppcoreguidelines-pro-type-reinterpret-cast)
+    }
+    return float_value<FloatType>(d.str(n), n);
+}
+
+template<typename FloatType>
+FloatType float_value(const document_data& d, const node& n, std::false_type /*other*/)
+{
+    return float_value<FloatType>(d.str(n), n);
+}
+
 }  // namespace view
 }  // namespace detail
 NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_END
@@ -2333,7 +2752,7 @@ BasicJsonType materialize(const document_data& d, const node* n)
                 ++n;
                 break;
             case value_t::number_float:
-                sax.number_float(float_value<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>(d.str(*n), *n), no_token);
+                sax.number_float(float_value<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>(d, *n), no_token);
                 ++n;
                 break;
             case value_t::boolean:
@@ -2822,7 +3241,7 @@ class view_serializer
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    write_float(float_value<number_float_t>(m_doc.str(n), n));
+                    write_float(float_value<number_float_t>(m_doc, n));
                 }
                 break;
             case value_t::object:    // LCOV_EXCL_LINE (containers are written by dump())
@@ -3155,7 +3574,7 @@ NLOHMANN_VIEW_ALWAYS_INLINE T arithmetic_value(const document_data& d, const nod
         case value_t::number_integer:
             return static_cast<T>(static_cast<typename BasicJsonType::number_integer_t>(static_cast<std::int64_t>(integer_bits(n))));
         case value_t::number_float:
-            return static_cast<T>(float_value<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>(d.str(n), n));
+            return static_cast<T>(float_value<typename BasicJsonType::number_float_t>(d, n));
         case value_t::boolean:
             return static_cast<T>((n.flags & node_flags::is_true) != 0);
         case value_t::null:
@@ -3757,6 +4176,44 @@ class basic_json_view
     }
 #endif
 
+    ////////////////
+    // comparison //
+    ////////////////
+
+    /// whether the values parse() would produce for two views are equal, as
+    /// by BasicJsonType's operator== (numbers by value, objects by their
+    /// members with duplicate keys resolved as parse() resolves them)
+    friend bool operator==(const basic_json_view& a, const basic_json_view& b)
+    {
+        return detail::view::equal<BasicJsonType>(side(a), side(b));
+    }
+
+    friend bool operator!=(const basic_json_view& a, const basic_json_view& b)
+    {
+        return !(a == b);
+    }
+
+    /// whether the value parse() would produce for a view equals a value
+    friend bool operator==(const basic_json_view& a, const BasicJsonType& j)
+    {
+        return detail::view::equal<BasicJsonType>(side(a), json_side_t(j));
+    }
+
+    friend bool operator==(const BasicJsonType& j, const basic_json_view& a)
+    {
+        return a == j;
+    }
+
+    friend bool operator!=(const basic_json_view& a, const BasicJsonType& j)
+    {
+        return !(a == j);
+    }
+
+    friend bool operator!=(const BasicJsonType& j, const basic_json_view& a)
+    {
+        return !(a == j);
+    }
+
     /////////////////
     // materialize //
     /////////////////
@@ -3789,6 +4246,13 @@ class basic_json_view
         : m_doc(d), m_node(n)
     {}
 
+    using json_side_t = detail::view::json_side<BasicJsonType, string_view_t>;
+
+    static detail::view::view_side<BasicJsonType, basic_json_view> side(const basic_json_view& v) noexcept
+    {
+        return detail::view::view_side<BasicJsonType, basic_json_view>(v);
+    }
+
     /// the number of source bytes of this value (estimated for values with
     /// decoded strings)
     std::size_t source_extent() const noexcept

tests/benchmarks/json_view/.gitignore

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

tests/benchmarks/json_view/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+# 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 both 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.
+
+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`).
+
+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 | |
+| 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 | |
+
+## 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 +1,326 @@
+//     __ _____ _____ _____
+//  __|  |   __|     |   | |  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. 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 <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);
+    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");
+    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);
+        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()); }},
+                    {"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(); }},
+#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()); }},
+                }
+            },
+        };
+        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)
+                {
+                    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);
+    }
+    std::fclose(csv);
+}

tests/benchmarks/json_view/bench_view.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,735 @@
+//     __ _____ _____ _____
+//  __|  |   __|     |   | |  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): 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; 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 <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);
+    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(); }},
+#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; }},
+                {"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()); }},
+                {"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)
+                {
+                    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 +1,300 @@
+#!/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 and bench_corpus.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
+import subprocess
+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)
+    return subprocess.run(cmd, check=True, **kwargs)
+
+
+def output(cmd):
+    try:
+        return subprocess.run(cmd, check=True, capture_output=True, text=True).stdout.strip()
+    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)
+        urllib.request.urlretrieve(pin['url'], archive)
+    with open(archive, 'rb') as f:
+        digest = hashlib.sha256(f.read()).hexdigest()
+    if digest != pin['sha256']:
+        sys.exit(f'error: SHA-256 of {archive} is {digest}, expected {pin["sha256"]}')
+    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)
+    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()
+
+    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']:
+        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
+    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']:
+            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()

tests/src/unit-json_view.cpp

@@ -826,7 +826,12 @@ TEST_CASE("json_view values")
         std::mt19937_64 rng(5295); // NOLINT(cert-msc32-c,cert-msc51-cpp,bugprone-random-generator-seed)
         std::vector<std::string> tokens = {"0.1", "-0.0", "1e308", "1.7976931348623157e308", "2.2250738585072011e-308", "4.9e-324", "5e-324",
                                            "0.1000000000000000055511151231257827021181583404541015625", "123456789012345678901234567890",
-                                           "9007199254740993", "1.00000000000000011102230246251565404236316680908203125", "7.2057594037927933e16"
+                                           "9007199254740993", "1.00000000000000011102230246251565404236316680908203125", "7.2057594037927933e16",
+                                           // around the limits of the conversion from the digit layout: 19 and 20
+                                           // digits, and those of Clinger's fast path (2^53, 10^22)
+                                           "1234567890.123456789", "1234567890.1234567891", "0.0000000000000000001", "123456789012345678.9",
+                                           "9007199254740992.0", "9007199254740993.0", "9007199254740994.0", "1.5e22", "1.5e23", "15e-22", "15e-23",
+                                           "1e-400", "0.0e0", "-0.0e-5", "12E+3", "12e-0"
                                           };
         for (int i = 0; i < 20000; ++i)
         {
@@ -1130,3 +1135,87 @@ TEST_CASE("json_view dump")
         CHECK(json_view().dump() == json(json::value_t::discarded).dump());
     }
 }
+
+TEST_CASE("json_view comparison")
+{
+    SECTION("equality of the values parse() produces")
+    {
+        generator g;
+        std::vector<std::string> texts;
+        for (int i = 0; i < 600; ++i)
+        {
+            std::string text;
+            g.value(text, 0);
+            texts.push_back(text);
+            // the same value written differently: sorted keys, canonical numbers
+            texts.push_back(json::parse(text).dump(1));
+        }
+        for (std::size_t i = 0; i + 2 < texts.size(); ++i)
+        {
+            for (std::size_t k = i; k < i + 3; ++k)
+            {
+                CAPTURE(texts[i]);
+                CAPTURE(texts[k]);
+                const json_document a = json_document::parse(texts[i]);
+                const json_document b = json_document::parse(texts[k]);
+                const json ja = json::parse(texts[i]);
+                const json jb = json::parse(texts[k]);
+                CHECK((a.root() == b.root()) == (ja == jb));
+                CHECK((a.root() != b.root()) == (ja != jb));
+                CHECK((a.root() == jb) == (ja == jb));
+                CHECK((jb == a.root()) == (ja == jb));
+                CHECK((a.root() != jb) == (ja != jb));
+                CHECK((jb != a.root()) == (ja != jb));
+
+                // ordered_json compares members in order
+                const ordered_json_document oa = ordered_json_document::parse(texts[i]);
+                const ordered_json_document ob = ordered_json_document::parse(texts[k]);
+                const ordered_json oja = ordered_json::parse(texts[i]);
+                const ordered_json ojb = ordered_json::parse(texts[k]);
+                CHECK((oa.root() == ob.root()) == (oja == ojb));
+                CHECK((oa.root() == ojb) == (oja == ojb));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    SECTION("numbers, duplicate keys, member order")
+    {
+        const auto same = [](const char* x, const char* y)
+        {
+            return json_document::parse(x).root() == json_document::parse(y).root();
+        };
+        CHECK(same("1", "1.0"));
+        CHECK(same("[1, -1, 2.5]", "[1.0, -1.0, 25e-1]"));
+        CHECK(!same("1", "1.5"));
+        CHECK(same("18446744073709551615", "18446744073709551615"));
+        CHECK(same(R"({"a": 1, "a": 2})", R"({"a": 2})"));
+        CHECK(!same(R"({"a": 1, "a": 2})", R"({"a": 1})"));
+        CHECK(same(R"({"a": 1, "b": 2})", R"({"b": 2, "a": 1})"));
+        CHECK(!same(R"({"a": 1})", R"({"a": 1, "b": 2})"));
+        CHECK(!same("[1, 2]", "[2, 1]"));
+        CHECK(!same("\"a\"", "\"b\""));
+        CHECK(same("\"\\u00e9\"", "\"\xc3\xa9\""));
+        CHECK(!same("null", "false"));
+        CHECK(!same("[]", "{}"));
+        CHECK(ordered_json_document::parse(R"({"a": 1, "b": 2, "a": 3})").root() == ordered_json_document::parse(R"({"a": 3, "b": 2})").root());
+        CHECK(ordered_json_document::parse(R"({"a": 1, "b": 2})").root() != ordered_json_document::parse(R"({"b": 2, "a": 1})").root());
+
+        // discarded values compare as basic_json's do
+        const json discarded(json::value_t::discarded);
+        CHECK((json_view() == json_view()) == (discarded == discarded)); // NOLINT(readability-container-size-empty): operator== is tested
+        CHECK((json_view() == discarded) == (discarded == discarded));
+        CHECK(!(json_view() == json_document::parse("null").root())); // NOLINT(readability-container-size-empty)
+        CHECK(!(json_document::parse("null").root() == discarded));
+    }
+
+    SECTION("deep nesting")
+    {
+        const std::string deep = std::string(100000, '[') + std::string(100000, ']');
+        const json_document a = json_document::parse(deep);
+        const json_document b = json_document::parse(deep);
+        CHECK(a.root() == b.root());
+        CHECK(a.root() == json::parse(deep));
+        const std::string other = std::string(100000, '[') + "1" + std::string(100000, ']');
+        CHECK(a.root() != json_document::parse(other).root());
+    }
+}