json-vs-thrift-vs-protobuf

Comparison between json, thrift and protobuf protocols

Results

Protocol	Encoding time	Decoding time	Payload size (bytes)	Test duration
Json	216.74875ms	210.512125ms	17715	2.199822167s
Protobuf	198.921792ms	32.473791ms	7811	1.315487459s
Thrift	224.548ms	46.453167ms	7853	1.438012417s

Summary

1. Encoding time +- the same
2. Decoding time (on the server): proto 7x faster then json
3. Decoding time (on the server): thrift 5x faster then json
4. Payload size: 2 times smaller

Test scenario

1. Create golang object with faked data
2. Marshal it via json, thrift, proto encoder 1000 times
3. Unmarshal it 1000 times
4. Repeat 2-3 5 times
5. Calculate median for each metric via stats

Example object to marshal/unmarshal

type phoneType int

const (
	MOBILE phoneType = iota;
	HOME;
	WORK;
)

type JsonPhoneNumber struct {
	Number    string    `json:"number"`
	PhoneType phoneType `json:"phone_type"`
}

type Timestamp struct {
	Seconds int64 `json:"seconds"`
	Nanos int32 `json:"nanos"`
}

type JsonPerson struct {
	Name string `json:"name"`
	Id int32 `json:"id"`
	Email string `json:"email"`

	Phones      []JsonPhoneNumber `json:"phones"`
	LastUpdated Timestamp         `json:"last_updated"`
}

type JsonAddressBook struct {
	People []JsonPerson `json:"people"`
}

Number of person generated per each address book: 100

Operation system	macOS Big Sur
CPU	apple m1
Memory	16 gb
Cores	8