Node.js versus Rust

How the programs are written matters! Always look at the source code.

If the fastest programs are flagged * possible hand-written vector instructions or "unsafe" or naked ffi, does the host language matter? You might be more interested in the less optimised programs — more seconds, less gz source code.

fannkuch-redux
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
* Rust #6	3.81	15.06	3,985	1260	11.92
Rust #4	6.94	27.12	3,985	1026	11.71
Rust #5	7.41	28.89	3,990	1023	11.79
Rust #2	9.19	36.04—36.08	3,723	1198	11.14
Node.js #5	11.07	43.76—44.47	111,055	1320	0.14
Node.js #8	58.32	58.31	64,094	452	0.13
n-body
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
* Rust #9	2.19	1.90—3.09	3,023	1881	11.01
* Rust #7	3.24	3.24	2,937	1759	10.53
Rust #3	3.46	3.46	2,937	1774	10.62
Rust #2	3.65	3.65	3,031	1809	10.49
Rust #6	4.37	4.36—4.49	3,031	1796	10.86
* Rust #5	5.02	5.03	3,035	2224	10.61
Rust #4	5.13	4.99—5.53	3,039	1810	10.50
Rust	5.52	5.50—5.60	3,027	1483	10.84
Node.js #6	8.55	8.60—8.73	67,244	1274	0.11
Node.js #8	9.63	9.64—9.99	66,695	1173	0.16
spectral-norm
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
* Rust #6	0.72	2.85	3,981	1132	12.60
Rust #4	0.72	2.85	4,047	823	12.00
Rust #5	0.72	2.86	4,018	1062	11.30
* Rust #2	0.72	2.86	4,145	1117	11.00
* Rust	0.72	2.86	4,104	1262	11.75
* Rust #3	0.74	2.94	4,121	1060	10.92
Node.js #7	5.40	5.40	66,163	420	0.12
Node.js	5.41	5.38—5.51	67,637	326	0.15
Node.js #6	1.60	6.03	116,212	1002	0.14
Node.js #8	6.53	6.53	66,642	355	0.14
Rust #7		Empty
mandelbrot
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
Rust #4	0.95	3.78	35,598	1301	12.26
Rust #6	1.08	4.21	36,426	1338	12.65
Rust #7	1.10	4.34	35,906	763	12.32
Rust #2	1.10	4.36—4.52	35,754	770	12.80
Rust #5	1.12	4.38	36,311	725	12.27
Rust #3	1.15	4.57	14,615	1013	12.66
Rust	2.01	7.90	42,631	874	10.94
Node.js #3	4.05	15.86—15.92	144,757	1128	0.15
Node.js #2	29.41	29.44	73,617	422	0.11
Node.js	69.02	72.84—75.47	69,100	380	0.15
Node.js #8	70.31	73.08—75.99	68,338	412	0.11
fasta
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
* Rust #7	0.78	1.55	4,772	2533	11.68
Rust #3	2.03	2.03	3,199	1235	10.95
Rust #9	0.94	3.20—3.33	5,534	1952	11.24
Rust #2	0.95	3.46—3.50	5,554	1910	11.45
Rust #5	0.94	3.48—3.53	5,554	1963	12.19
Rust #4	3.52	3.53	128,217	944	10.63
Rust #6	3.53	3.53	128,381	959	10.62
Rust	4.45	4.54—4.61	3,113	1240	11.09
* Node.js #5	2.56	7.10—7.15	120,930	2050	0.14
Node.js #8	18.98	19.26—19.53	74,129	742	0.13
Node.js	38.55	39.18—39.87	71,639	815	0.14
k-nucleotide
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
Rust #7	2.57	8.13—8.39	139,088	1585	13.43
Rust #3	3.28	9.72—10.13	142,631	1549	11.91
Rust #6	2.79	10.06—10.15	165,048	1697	14.10
Rust #5	3.88	11.66—11.92	143,155	1745	12.40
Rust #2	6.00	15.71—16.24	142,946	1350	11.85
Rust #9	6.33	17.72—18.82	141,099	1850	14.41
Rust #4	6.69	18.00—18.74	142,090	1755	13.13
Node.js #3	15.99	43.91—44.53	448,524	1817	0.14
Rust	21.08	64.42—65.12	161,219	1086	12.16
Node.js #8	105.52	109.35—113.96	734,392	678	0.13
Node.js #2	35.57	110.72—113.74	1,897,566	941	0.13
Node.js	37.72	115.01—117.24	1,361,019	1011	0.13
reverse-complement
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
* Rust	0.55	0.85	512,963	2762	11.72
Rust #2	1.01	1.61	1,022,128	1332	11.04
Rust #3	1.02	1.72	1,022,034	1105	11.45
* Node.js #2	15.53	16.25—16.39	763,048	1228	0.14
* Node.js #7		Bad Output
binary-trees [ Contentious. Different approaches. ]
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
Rust #5	1.07	3.84—4.01	139,121	771	1.28
Rust #2	1.17	4.16—4.25	140,157	729	12.50
Rust #4	1.38	4.98—5.02	202,686	765	12.32
Rust #3	1.40	5.15—5.26	172,392	762	11.90
Rust	2.10	7.44	137,417	760	11.36
Node.js #7	16.07	28.29—28.55	1,128,059	458	0.10
Node.js #6	8.61	30.92—31.04	1,275,720	752	0.06
Node.js	8.94	33.89—34.14	1,389,228	717	0.09
pidigits [ Contentious. Different libraries. ]
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
Rust #4	0.71	0.72	4,055	804	11.82
* Rust #2	0.75	0.75	4,387	1312	10.44
* Rust	0.75	0.75	4,243	1426	10.19
* Rust #3	0.75	0.75	4,510	1373	10.10
Node.js #4	1.15	1.16	71,688	487	0.14
Node.js #2	12.17	12.15—12.42	102,679	405	0.10
Node.js #3	12.25	12.23—12.38	102,257	431	0.12
regex-redux [ Contentious. Different libraries. ]
	elapsed	Mean or 95% CI
source	secs	cpu secs	mem	gz	make
Rust #6	1.21	1.46	159,846	994	13.12
Rust #5	1.35	1.58	209,863	777	12.67
Rust	1.35	1.59—1.63	159,793	811	12.22
Rust #3	1.38	1.63	210,379	726	13.51
Rust #4	1.38	1.64	206,811	771	12.41
Rust #2	1.38	1.64	159,937	707	11.67
* Rust #7	0.78	2.00	157,442	2464	12.48
Node.js #3	4.35	5.71—5.92	840,503	675	0.12
Node.js #4	5.47	5.63—5.76	1,036,935	471	0.14
Node.js	v23.8.0
Rust	1.84.1 (e71f9a9a9 2025-01-27) LLVM version: 19.1.5