# Sonic

A blazingly fast JSON serializing & deserializing library, accelerated by JIT (just-in-time compiling) and SIMD (single-instruction-multiple-data).

## Requirement
- Go 1.15/1.16/1.17
- Linux/darwin OS
- Amd64 CPU with AVX instruction set

## Features
- Runtime object binding without code generation
- Complete APIs for JSON value manipulation
- Fast, fast, fast!

## Benchmarks
For **all sizes** of json and **all scenarios** of usage, **Sonic performs best**.
- [Medium](https://github.com/bytedance/sonic/blob/main/decoder/testdata_test.go#L19) (13KB, 300+ key, 6 layers)
```powershell
goversion: 1.17.1
goos: darwin
goarch: amd64
cpu: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9880H CPU @ 2.30GHz
BenchmarkEncoder_Generic_Sonic-16                      42688 ns/op         305.36 MB/s       15608 B/op          4 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Generic_Sonic_Fast-16                 30043 ns/op         433.87 MB/s       14638 B/op          4 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Generic_JsonIter-16                   46461 ns/op         280.56 MB/s       13433 B/op         77 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Generic_GoJson-16                     73608 ns/op         177.09 MB/s       23219 B/op         16 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Generic_StdLib-16                    122622 ns/op         106.30 MB/s       49137 B/op        827 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Binding_Sonic-16                       8190 ns/op        1591.61 MB/s       16175 B/op          4 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Binding_Sonic_Fast-16                  7365 ns/op        1769.85 MB/s       14367 B/op          4 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Binding_JsonIter-16                   23326 ns/op         558.81 MB/s        9487 B/op          2 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Binding_GoJson-16                      9412 ns/op        1384.93 MB/s        9480 B/op          1 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Binding_StdLib-16                     18510 ns/op         704.22 MB/s        9479 B/op          1 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Generic_Sonic-16              7716 ns/op        1689.37 MB/s       12812 B/op          4 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Generic_Sonic_Fast-16         4791 ns/op        2720.47 MB/s       10884 B/op          4 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Generic_JsonIter-16          10505 ns/op        1240.85 MB/s       13455 B/op         77 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Generic_GoJson-16            24086 ns/op         541.19 MB/s       23379 B/op         17 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Generic_StdLib-16            65697 ns/op         198.41 MB/s       49164 B/op        827 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Binding_Sonic-16              2085 ns/op        6251.53 MB/s       12933 B/op          4 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Binding_Sonic_Fast-16         1612 ns/op        8087.31 MB/s       11177 B/op          4 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Binding_JsonIter-16           6169 ns/op        2112.84 MB/s        9494 B/op          2 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Binding_GoJson-16             3492 ns/op        3733.14 MB/s        9492 B/op          1 allocs/op
BenchmarkEncoder_Parallel_Binding_StdLib-16             5170 ns/op        2521.50 MB/s        9482 B/op          1 allocs/op

BenchmarkDecoder_Generic_Sonic-16                      69966 ns/op         186.30 MB/s       49543 B/op        313 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Generic_StdLib-16                    146902 ns/op          88.73 MB/s       50872 B/op        772 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Generic_JsonIter-16                  101592 ns/op         128.31 MB/s       55783 B/op       1068 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Generic_GoJson-16                     97865 ns/op         133.19 MB/s       66367 B/op        973 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Binding_Sonic-16                      31418 ns/op         414.90 MB/s       24779 B/op         34 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Binding_StdLib-16                    131260 ns/op          99.31 MB/s       10576 B/op        208 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Binding_JsonIter-16                   39298 ns/op         331.70 MB/s       14673 B/op        385 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Binding_GoJson-16                     31852 ns/op         409.24 MB/s       22040 B/op         49 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Parallel_Generic_Sonic-16             10525 ns/op        1238.44 MB/s       49470 B/op        313 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Parallel_Generic_StdLib-16            60223 ns/op         216.44 MB/s       50875 B/op        772 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Parallel_Generic_JsonIter-16          60918 ns/op         213.97 MB/s       55817 B/op       1068 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Parallel_Generic_GoJson-16            48386 ns/op         269.39 MB/s       66425 B/op        974 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Parallel_Binding_Sonic-16              7319 ns/op        1781.00 MB/s       24889 B/op         34 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Parallel_Binding_StdLib-16            40494 ns/op         321.90 MB/s       10575 B/op        208 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Parallel_Binding_JsonIter-16          18840 ns/op         691.89 MB/s       14679 B/op        385 allocs/op
BenchmarkDecoder_Parallel_Binding_GoJson-16            17078 ns/op         763.28 MB/s       22211 B/op         49 allocs/op

BenchmarkGetOne_Sonic-16                               11328 ns/op        1149.64 MB/s          29 B/op          1 allocs/op
BenchmarkGetOne_Gjson-16                               12970 ns/op        1004.07 MB/s           0 B/op          0 allocs/op
BenchmarkGetOne_Jsoniter-16                            59928 ns/op         217.31 MB/s       27936 B/op        647 allocs/op
BenchmarkGetOne_Parallel_Sonic-16                       1447 ns/op        9002.23 MB/s         114 B/op          1 allocs/op
BenchmarkGetOne_Parallel_Gjson-16                       1171 ns/op        11125.73 MB/s          0 B/op          0 allocs/op
BenchmarkGetOne_Parallel_Jsoniter-16                   15545 ns/op         837.75 MB/s       27940 B/op        647 allocs/op
BenchmarkSetOne_Sonic-16                               16922 ns/op         769.57 MB/s        1936 B/op         17 allocs/op
BenchmarkSetOne_Sjson-16                               42683 ns/op         305.11 MB/s       52181 B/op          9 allocs/op
BenchmarkSetOne_Jsoniter-16                            91104 ns/op         142.95 MB/s       45861 B/op        964 allocs/op
BenchmarkSetOne_Parallel_Sonic-16                       2065 ns/op        6305.03 MB/s        2383 B/op         17 allocs/op
BenchmarkSetOne_Parallel_Sjson-16                      11526 ns/op        1129.87 MB/s       52175 B/op          9 allocs/op
BenchmarkSetOne_Parallel_Jsoniter-16                   35044 ns/op         371.61 MB/s       45887 B/op        964 allocs/op
```        
- [Small](https://github.com/bytedance/sonic/blob/main/testdata/small.go) (400B, 11 keys, 3 layers)
![small benchmarks](bench-small.jpg)
- [Large](https://github.com/bytedance/sonic/blob/main/testdata/twitter.json) (635KB, 10000+ key, 6 layers)
![large benchmarks](bench-large.jpg)

See [bench.sh](https://github.com/bytedance/sonic/blob/main/bench.sh) for benchmark codes.

## How it works
See [INTRODUCTION.md](INTRODUCTION.md).

## Usage

### Marshal/Unmarshal

Default behaviors are mostly consistent with `encoding/json`, except HTML escaping form (see [Escape HTML](https://github.com/bytedance/sonic/blob/main/README.md#escape-html)) and `SortKeys` feature (optional support see [Sort Keys](https://github.com/bytedance/sonic/blob/main/README.md#sort-keys)) that is **NOT** in conformity to [RFC8259](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8259).
 ```go
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic"

var data YourSchema
// Marshal
output, err := sonic.Marshal(&data) 
// Unmarshal
err := sonic.Unmarshal(output, &data) 
 ```

### Use Number/Use Int64
 ```go
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic/decoder"

var input = `1`
var data interface{}

// default float64
dc := decoder.NewDecoder(input) 
dc.Decode(&data) // data == float64(1)
// use json.Number
dc = decoder.NewDecoder(input)
dc.UseNumber()
dc.Decode(&data) // data == json.Number("1")
// use int64
dc = decoder.NewDecoder(input)
dc.UseInt64()
dc.Decode(&data) // data == int64(1)

root, err := sonic.GetFromString(input)
// Get json.Number
jn := root.Number()
jm := root.InterfaceUseNumber().(json.Number) // jn == jm
// Get float64
fn := root.Float64()
fm := root.Interface().(float64) // jn == jm
 ```
 
### Sort Keys
On account of the performance loss from sorting (roughly 10%), sonic doesn't enable this feature by default. If your component depends on it to work (like [zstd](https://github.com/facebook/zstd)), Use it like this:
```go
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic"
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic/encoder"

// Binding map only
m := map[string]interface{}{}
v, err := encoder.Encode(m, encoder.SortMapKeys)

// Or ast.Node.SortKeys() before marshal
var root := sonic.Get(JSON)
err := root.SortKeys()
```
### Escape HTML
On account of the performance loss (roughly 15%), sonic doesn't enable this feature by default. You can use `encoder.EscapeHTML` option to open this feature (align with `encoding/json.HTMLEscape`).
```go
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic"

v := map[string]string{"&&":{"<>"}}
ret, err := Encode(v, EscapeHTML) // ret == `{"\u0026\u0026":{"X":"\u003c\u003e"}}`
```
### Compact Format
Sonic encodes premitive objects (struct/map...) as compact-format JSON by default, except marshaling `json.RawMessage` or `json.Marshaler`: sonic ensures validating their output JSON but **DONOT** compacting them for performance concern. We provide option `encoder.CompactMarshaler` to add compacting process.

### Print Syntax Error
```go
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic"
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic/decoder"

var data interface{}
err := sonic.Unmarshal("[[[}]]", &data)
if err != nil {
    /*one line by default*/
    println(e.Error())) // "Syntax error at index 3: invalid char\n\n\t[[[}]]\n\t...^..\n"
    /*pretty print*/
    if e, ok := err.(decoder.SyntaxError); ok {
        /*Syntax error at index 3: invalid char

            [[[}]]
            ...^..
        */
        print(e.Description())
    }
}
```

### Ast.Node
Sonic/ast.Node is a completely self-contained AST for JSON. It implements serialization and deserialization both, and provides robust APIs for obtaining and modification of generic data.
#### Get/Index
Search partial JSON by given paths, which must be non-negative integer or string or nil
```go
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic"

input := []byte(`{"key1":[{},{"key2":{"key3":[1,2,3]}}]}`)

// no path, returns entire json
root, err := sonic.Get(input)
raw := root.Raw() // == string(input)

// multiple pathes
root, err := sonic.Get(input, "key1", 1, "key2")
sub := root.Get("key3").Index(2).Int64() // == 3
```
**Tip**: since `Index()` uses offset to locate data, which is much faster than scanning like `Get()`, we suggest you use it as much as possible. And sonic also provides another API `IndexOrGet()` to underlying use offset as well as ensuring the key is matched.

#### Set/Unset
Modify the json content by Set()/Unset()
```go
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic"

// Set
exist, err := root.Set("key4", NewBool(true)) // exist == false
alias1 := root.Get("key4") 
println(alias1.Valid()) // true
alias2 := root.Index(1)
println(alias1 == alias2) // true

// Unset
exist, err := root.UnsetByIndex(1) // exist == true
println(root.Get("key4").Check()) // "value not exist"
```

#### Serialize
To encode `ast.Node` as json, use `MarshalJson()` or `json.Marshal()` (MUST pass the node's pointer)
```go
import (
    "encoding/json"
    "github.com/bytedance/sonic"
)

buf, err := root.MarshalJson()
println(string(buf))                // {"key1":[{},{"key2":{"key3":[1,2,3]}}]}
exp, err := json.Marshal(&root)     // WARN: use pointer
println(string(buf) == string(exp)) // true
```

#### APIs
- validation: `Check()`, `Error()`, `Valid()`, `Exist()`
- searching: `Index()`, `Get()`, `IndexPair()`, `IndexOrGet()`, `GetByPath()`
- go-type casting: `Int64()`, `Float64()`, `String()`, `Number()`, `Bool()`, `Map[UseNumber|UseNode]()`, `Array[UseNumber|UseNode]()`, `Interface[UseNumber|UseNode]()`
- go-type packing: `NewRaw()`, `NewNumber()`, `NewNull()`, `NewBool()`, `NewString()`, `NewObject()`, `NewArray()`
- iteration: `Values()`, `Properties()`, `ForEach()`, `SortKeys()`
- modification: `Set()`, `SetByIndex()`, `Add()`

## Tips

### Pretouch
Since Sonic uses [golang-asm](https://github.com/twitchyliquid64/golang-asm) as a JIT assembler, which is NOT very suitable for runtime compiling, first-hit running of a huge schema may cause request-timeout or even process-OOM. For better stability, we advise to **use `Pretouch()` for huge-schema or compact-memory application** before `Marshal()/Unmarshal()`.
```go
import (
    "reflect"
    "github.com/bytedance/sonic"
    "github.com/bytedance/sonic/option"
 )
 
 func init() {
     var v HugeStruct
    // For most large types (nesting depth <= 5)
     err := sonic.Pretouch(reflect.TypeOf(v))
    // If the type is too deep nesting (nesting depth > 5),
    // you can set compile recursive depth in Pretouch for better stability in JIT.
    err := sonic.Pretouch(reflect.TypeOf(v), option.WithCompileRecursiveDepth(depth))
```
### Accelerate `encoding.TextMarshaler`
To ensure data security, sonic.Encoder quotes and escapes string values from `encoding.TextMarshaler` interfaces by default, which may degrade performance much if most of your data is in form of them. We provide `encoder.NoQuoteTextMarshaler` to skip these operations, which means you **MUST** ensure their output string escaped and quoted in accordance with [RFC8259](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8259).

### Pass string or []byte?
For alignment to `encoding/json`, we provide API to pass `[]byte` as an argument, but the string-to-bytes copy is conducted at the same time considering safety, which may lose performance when origin JSON is huge. Therefore, you can use `UnmarshalString` and `GetFromString` to pass a string, as long as your origin data is a string or **nocopy-cast** is safe for your []byte.

### Better performance for generic data
In **fully-parsed** scenario, `Unmarshal()` performs better than `Get()`+`Node.Interface()`. But if you only have a part of schema for specific json, you can combine `Get()` and `Unmarshal()` together:
```go
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic"

node, err := sonic.GetFromString(_TwitterJson, "statuses", 3, "user")
var user User // your partial schema...
err = sonic.UnmarshalString(node.Raw(), &user)
```
Even if you don't have any schema, use `ast.Node` as the container of generic values instead of `map` or `interface`:
```go
import "github.com/bytedance/sonic"

root, err := sonic.GetFromString(_TwitterJson)
user := root.GetByPath("statuses", 3, "user")  // === root.Get("status").Index(3).Get("user")
err = user.Check()

// err = user.LoadAll() // only call this when you want to use 'user' concurrently...
go someFunc(user)
```
Why? Because `ast.Node` stores its children using `array`: 
- `Array`'s performance is **much better** than `Map` when Inserting (Deserialize) and Scanning (Serialize) data;
- **Hashing** (`map[x]`) is not as efficient as **Indexing** (`array[x]`), which `ast.Node` can conduct on **both array and object**;
- Using `Interface()`/`Map()` means Sonic must parse all the underlying values, while `ast.Node` can parse them **on demand**.

**CAUTION:** `ast.Node` **DOESN'T** ensure concurrent security directly, due to its **lazy-load** design. However, your can call `Node.Load()`/`Node.LoadAll()` to achieve that, which may bring performance reduction while it still works faster than converting to `map` or `interface{}`