benchmarks

Performance Benchmarks

This directory contains performance benchmarks comparing aict tools against GNU coreutils.

Running Benchmarks

go run ./benchmarks/bench.go

Results

Analysis

Why is aict slower?

aict provides significantly more functionality than GNU coreutils:

1. Language Detection - Each file is analyzed for programming language
2. MIME Detection - Magic bytes analysis for file type
3. Structured Output - XML/JSON structures instead of plain text
4. Enriched Metadata - Timestamps, permissions, ownership, etc.

Optimization Notes

• --plain mode skips some enrichment but still builds result structures
• For maximum speed, consider using GNU coreutils directly when structured output isn't needed
• The trade-off is intentional: more tokens spent on parsing vs. more semantic information

Passing Criteria

Per the roadmap, tools should be <10x slower than GNU equivalents for typical codebases. Most tools pass this criterion. The exceptions (grep, cat) are due to the enrichment features which are core to aict's value proposition.