Benchmark JSON Parsing Speed: jq vs gron

Compare the execution time of jq and gron when parsing a large JSON payload using hyperfine.

$ hyperfine --warmup 3 'jq . large.json > /dev/null' 'gron large.json > /dev/null'

1. [01] hyperfinehyperfine
   A command-line benchmarking tool that runs commands multiple times to gather statistical timing data.
2. [02] hyperfine--warmup 3
   Performs 3 unmeasured warmup runs before the actual benchmark to ensure disk caches are populated.
3. [03] jq'jq . large.json > /dev/null'
   Parses the JSON file with jq. Output is redirected to /dev/null to isolate parsing time from terminal I/O rendering overhead.
4. [04] gron'gron large.json > /dev/null'
   Parses and flattens the JSON file with gron, also redirecting output to prevent I/O bottlenecks.

Benchmark 1: jq . large.json > /dev/null
  Time (mean ± σ):      45.2 ms ±   1.2 ms
Benchmark 2: gron large.json > /dev/null
  Time (mean ± σ):     120.5 ms ±   3.4 ms
Summary
  'jq . large.json > /dev/null' ran
    2.67 ± 0.10 times faster than 'gron large.json > /dev/null'

• Footgun: Forgetting to redirect output to /dev/null will measure your terminal emulator's rendering speed rather than the tool's actual parsing speed.
• Cost/Permission: Running intensive benchmarks on shared cloud instances or CI pipelines may consume burst CPU credits or impact other tenants.