Files
json/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/macros/json_use_simdutf.md
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Niels Lohmann 1871d09af0 Make parsing from std::istream and FILE* fast
Squashed onto develop cd6b428ef (CI fixes from #5860). Original commits:

- Let the lexer's bulk fast paths run on a window of the input
- Scan the get area of an input stream in bulk
- Lock a FILE once per parse instead of once per character
- Add benchmarks for parsing from a FILE* and for many values from a stream
- Avoid implicit unsigned char to char conversion in stream tests
- Make file_input_adapter::unlock() safe to call on a moved-from adapter

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
2026-10-16 19:26:50 +02:00

3.3 KiB

JSON_USE_SIMDUTF

#define JSON_USE_SIMDUTF

When defined, the parser validates the UTF-8 content of JSON strings that come from a contiguous byte input (std::string, std::vector<char>/<std::uint8_t>, string literals, const char* ranges, …) using the simdutf library instead of the built-in scalar validator. On text with many non-ASCII characters (e.g. CJK or emoji) this can validate several times faster.

This is an opt-in external dependency. The library itself remains header-only and its behavior is unchanged: the same input is accepted or rejected either way, and every parse error is reported at the same position with the same message (simdutf is only used to fast-path valid runs; anything it flags falls back to the scalar path so the exact diagnostic is preserved). A std::istream uses simdutf for the characters its stream buffer holds (see JSON_DISABLE_STREAM_BULK_SCAN); other streaming inputs (FILE*, wide strings, user-defined adapters) always use the scalar path.

When JSON_USE_SIMDUTF is defined you must make the simdutf.h header available on the include path and link the simdutf library. When it is not defined, no simdutf header is included and there is no dependency.

!!! note "Requires C++17"

simdutf requires C++17 and its header rejects older standards with an `#!cpp #error`. The backend is therefore only
compiled in from C++17 on. In C++11 and C++14 the macro has no effect and the scalar validator is used, which
accepts and rejects exactly the same input -- only throughput differs. Setting the macro project-wide is therefore
safe even when some translation units are built with an older standard.

!!! warning "Define consistently"

The macro selects between two definitions of the same inline validation function. It must therefore be defined
identically for **every** translation unit that includes the library; mixing translation units that define it with
ones that do not is an ODR violation. Prefer setting it as a compile definition on the target rather than with
`#!cpp #define` in individual source files.

Default definition

By default, #!cpp JSON_USE_SIMDUTF is not defined and the portable C++11 scalar validator is used.

#undef JSON_USE_SIMDUTF

Examples

??? example

The code below enables the simdutf backend for UTF-8 validation.

```cpp
#define JSON_USE_SIMDUTF 1
#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>

...
```

The project must also link against simdutf, e.g. with CMake:

```cmake
target_compile_definitions(your_target PRIVATE JSON_USE_SIMDUTF)
target_link_libraries(your_target PRIVATE simdutf::simdutf)
```

!!! hint "Testing this configuration"

The unit tests can be built against the simdutf backend with the CMake option
[`JSON_TestSimdutf`](../../integration/cmake.md#json_testsimdutf) (`OFF` by default), which fetches simdutf and
defines `JSON_USE_SIMDUTF` for every test target. The `ci_test_simdutf` target runs the whole test suite in that
configuration.

See also

Version history

  • Added in version 3.13.0.