The processing performance of nl commands and commands with similar functions is summarized.
The time required to add the line number of 1000000 lines of each implementation is summarized. The following alternative methods are also included in the comparison.
-Alternate nl command with various commands --Alternate nl command with script --Alternate nl command in editor
The GNU implementation occupies the top position. In GNU, cat -n and grep -n are faster than nl.
| time(real) | command | version |
|---|---|---|
| 0.372 | ggrep | ggrep (GNU grep) 3.6 |
| 0.376 | gcat | cat (GNU coreutils) 8.32 |
| 0.401 | gnl | nl (GNU coreutils) 8.32 |
| 0.610 | mawk | MAWK Version 1.3.4 |
| 0.676 | nl | BSD |
| 0.780 | grep | grep (BSD grep) 2.5.1-FreeBSD |
| 0.786 | busybox nl(* Converted value) | BusyBox v1.30.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.30.1-4ubuntu6.3) multi-call binary. |
| 1.021 | cat | BSD |
| 1.106 | gawk | GNU Awk 5.1.0, API: 3.0 (GNU MPFR 4.1.0, GNU MP 6.2.1) |
| 1.979 | sed | BSD |
| 1.996 | gsed | gsed (GNU sed) 4.8 |
| 2.428 | nawk | awk version 20070501 - one true awk(new awk) |
| 2.751 | perl | perl 5, version 32, subversion 0 (v5.32.0) built for darwin-thread-multi-2level |
| 5.558 | vim | VIM - Vi IMproved 8.2 (2019 Dec 12, compiled Nov 29 2020 16:14:01) |
The measurement environment is as follows.
Basically, it is measured on macOS, and only busybox is measured and converted on Ubuntu. (Busybox relies on Linux header files, which was annoying)
nl implementation comparisoncoreutils vs BSD macOS 10.13.6 / Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2677M CPU @ 1.80GHz (2C4T)
$ time seq 1000000 | nl >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m0.678s | 0m0.675s | 0m0.676s | 0.676 |
| user | 0m1.072s | 0m1.065s | 0m1.065s | 1.067 |
| sys | 0m0.019s | 0m0.020s | 0m0.018s | 0.019 |
$ time seq 1000000 | gnl >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m0.401s | 0m0.404s | 0m0.399s | 0.401 |
| user | 0m0.760s | 0m0.770s | 0m0.758s | 0.763 |
| sys | 0m0.015s | 0m0.015s | 0m0.014s | 0.015 |
coreutils vs busybox Ubuntu 20.04LTS / Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2415M CPU @ 2.30GHz (2C4T)
$ time seq 1000000 | nl >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m0.184s | 0m0.183s | 0m0.185s | 0.184 |
| user | 0m0.188s | 0m0.191s | 0m0.189s | 0.189 |
| sys | 0m0.018s | 0m0.014s | 0m0.018s | 0.017 |
$ time seq 1000000 | busybox nl >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m0.364s | 0m0.363s | 0m0.355s | 0.361 |
| user | 0m0.376s | 0m0.397s | 0m0.378s | 0.384 |
| sys | 0m0.029s | 0m0.005s | 0m0.005s | 0.013 |
This command was used in Substitute nl command with various commands. I haven't tried less.
macOS 10.13.6 / Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2677M CPU @ 1.80GHz (2C4T)
cat -n (coreutils vs BSD)
$ time seq 1000000 | gcat -n >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m0.377s | 0m0.373s | 0m0.379s | 0.376 |
| user | 0m0.410s | 0m0.407s | 0m0.413s | 0.410 |
| sys | 0m0.017s | 0m0.017s | 0m0.017s | 0.017 |
$ time seq 1000000 | cat -n >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m1.026s | 0m1.012s | 0m1.026s | 1.021 |
| user | 0m1.417s | 0m1.396s | 0m1.414s | 1.409 |
| sys | 0m0.020s | 0m0.020s | 0m0.020s | 0.020 |
grep -n (GNU vs BSD)
$ time seq 1000000 | ggrep -n ^ >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m0.368s | 0m0.370s | 0m0.378s | 0.372 |
| user | 0m0.365s | 0m0.367s | 0m0.374s | 0.369 |
| sys | 0m0.015s | 0m0.015s | 0m0.016s | 0.015 |
$ time seq 1000000 | grep -n ^ >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m0.786s | 0m0.774s | 0m0.780s | 0.780 |
| user | 0m1.160s | 0m1.149s | 0m1.167s | 1.159 |
| sys | 0m0.019s | 0m0.020s | 0m0.020s | 0.020 |
This is the script one-liner used in Substitute nl command with script. macOS 10.13.6 / Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2677M CPU @ 1.80GHz (2C4T)
Awk（gawk vs mawk vs nawk）
gawk
$ time seq 1000000 | gawk '$0=NR"\t"$0' >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m1.103s | 0m1.126s | 0m1.089s | 1.106 |
| user | 0m1.464s | 0m1.528s | 0m1.476s | 1.489 |
| sys | 0m0.023s | 0m0.022s | 0m0.020s | 0.022 |
mawk
$ time seq 1000000 | mawk '$0=NR"\t"$0' >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m0.609s | 0m0.613s | 0m0.609s | 0.610 |
| user | 0m1.000s | 0m1.006s | 0m1.005s | 1.004 |
| sys | 0m0.021s | 0m0.021s | 0m0.021s | 0.021 |
nawk
$ time seq 1000000 | /usr/bin/awk '$0=NR"\t"$0' >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m2.444s | 0m2.460s | 0m2.379s | 2.428 |
| user | 0m2.845s | 0m2.866s | 0m2.790s | 2.834 |
| sys | 0m0.039s | 0m0.033s | 0m0.036s | 0.036 |
Perl
$ time seq 1000000 | perl -pe 's/^/$.\t/' >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m2.709s | 0m2.776s | 0m2.768s | 2.751 |
| user | 0m3.078s | 0m3.160s | 0m3.147s | 3.128 |
| sys | 0m0.035s | 0m0.030s | 0m0.030s | 0.032 |
This is the editor used in Substitute nl command with editor. macOS 10.13.6 / Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2677M CPU @ 1.80GHz (2C4T)
SED（GNU vs BSD）
$ time seq 1000000 | gsed = | paste - - >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m1.994s | 0m1.996s | 0m1.997s | 1.996 |
| user | 0m3.047s | 0m3.069s | 0m3.052s | 3.056 |
| sys | 0m0.033s | 0m0.035s | 0m0.037s | 0.035 |
$ time seq 1000000 | sed = | paste - - >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m1.974s | 0m1.991s | 0m1.973s | 1.979 |
| user | 0m3.014s | 0m3.047s | 0m3.026s | 3.029 |
| sys | 0m0.043s | 0m0.043s | 0m0.044s | 0.043 |
Strictly speaking, it also depends on the implementation of paste.
Vim
$ time seq 1000000 | vim -es /dev/stdin +':set number' +%p +q! >/dev/null
| time | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ave. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| real | 0m5.580s | 0m5.551s | 0m5.543s | 5.558 |
| user | 0m4.918s | 0m4.916s | 0m4.928s | 4.921 |
| sys | 0m0.778s | 0m0.743s | 0m0.725s | 0.749 |