Benchmark::Forking 0.99

Benchmark::Forking is a Perl module to run benchmarks in separate processes.

SYNOPSIS

use Benchmark::Forking qw( timethis timethese cmpthese );

timethis ($count, "code");

timethese($count, {
Name1 => sub { ...code1... },
Name2 => sub { ...code2... },
});

cmpthese($count, {
Name1 => sub { ...code1... },
Name2 => sub { ...code2... },
});

Benchmark::Forking->enabled(0); # Stop using forking feature
...
Benchmark::Forking->enabled(1); # Begin using forking again

The Benchmark::Forking module changes the behavior of the standard Benchmark module, running each piece of code to be timed in a separate forked process. Because each child exits after running its timing loop, the computations it performs cant propogate back to affect subsequent test cases.

This can make benchmark comparisons more accurate, because the separate test cases are mostly isolated from side-effects caused by the others. Benchmark scripts typically dont depend on those side-effects, so in most cases you can simply use or require this module at the top of your existing code without having to change anything else. (A few key exceptions are noted in "BUGS".)