Add min rel accuracy stopping criterion

Clean up the initial commit

Further cleaning of initial commit. Add test.

Improvements to comments thanks to review

Reformat thanks to clang format.

Static cast to avoid conversion warning

include/benchmark/benchmark.h

@@ -126,8 +126,12 @@ template <class Q> int BM_Sequential(benchmark::State& state) {
 }
 BENCHMARK_TEMPLATE(BM_Sequential, WaitQueue<int>)->Range(1<<0, 1<<10);
 
-Use `Benchmark::MinTime(double t)` to set the minimum time used to run the
-benchmark. This option overrides the `benchmark_min_time` flag.
+Use `Benchmark::MinTime(double t)` to set the minimum time used to determine how
+long to run the benchmark. This option overrides the `benchmark_min_time` flag.
+
+If a benchmark measures time manually, use `Benchmark::MinRelAccuracy(double r)`
+to set the required minimum relative accuracy used to determine how long to run
+the benchmark. This option overrides the `benchmark_min_rel_accuracy` flag.
 
 void BM_test(benchmark::State& state) {
  ... body ...
@@ -1262,11 +1266,21 @@ class BENCHMARK_EXPORT Benchmark {
   // multiplier kRangeMultiplier will be used.
   Benchmark* RangeMultiplier(int multiplier);
 
-  // Set the minimum amount of time to use when running this benchmark. This
-  // option overrides the `benchmark_min_time` flag.
+  // Set the minimum amount of time to use to determine the required number
+  // of iterations when running this benchmark. This option overrides
+  // the `benchmark_min_time` flag.
   // REQUIRES: `t > 0` and `Iterations` has not been called on this benchmark.
   Benchmark* MinTime(double t);
 
+  // Set the minimum relative accuracy to use to determine the required number
+  // of iterations when running this benchmark. This option overrides
+  // the `benchmark_min_rel_accuracy` flag.
+  // REQUIRES: `r > 0`, `Iterations` has not been called on this benchmark, and
+  // time is measured manually, i.e., `UseManualTime` has been called on this
+  // benchmark and each benchmark iteration should call
+  // `SetIterationTime(seconds)` to report the measured time.
+  Benchmark* MinRelAccuracy(double r);
+
   // Set the minimum amount of time to run the benchmark before taking runtimes
   // of this benchmark into account. This
   // option overrides the `benchmark_min_warmup_time` flag.
@@ -1389,6 +1403,7 @@ class BENCHMARK_EXPORT Benchmark {
 
   int range_multiplier_;
   double min_time_;
+  double min_rel_accuracy_;
   double min_warmup_time_;
   IterationCount iterations_;
   int repetitions_;
@@ -1821,6 +1836,7 @@ struct BENCHMARK_EXPORT BenchmarkName {
   std::string function_name;
   std::string args;
   std::string min_time;
+  std::string min_rel_accuracy;
   std::string min_warmup_time;
   std::string iterations;
   std::string repetitions;
@@ -1860,6 +1876,7 @@ class BENCHMARK_EXPORT BenchmarkReporter {
           threads(1),
           time_unit(GetDefaultTimeUnit()),
           real_accumulated_time(0),
+          manual_accumulated_time_pow2(0),
           cpu_accumulated_time(0),
           max_heapbytes_used(0),
           use_real_time_for_initial_big_o(false),
@@ -1888,6 +1905,7 @@ class BENCHMARK_EXPORT BenchmarkReporter {
     int64_t repetitions;
     TimeUnit time_unit;
     double real_accumulated_time;
+    double manual_accumulated_time_pow2;
     double cpu_accumulated_time;
 
     // Return a value representing the real time per iteration in the unit

src/benchmark.cc

@@ -65,12 +65,12 @@ BM_DEFINE_bool(benchmark_list_tests, false);
 // linked into the binary are run.
 BM_DEFINE_string(benchmark_filter, "");
 
-// Specification of how long to run the benchmark.
+// Specification of either an exact number of iterations (specified as
+// `<integer>x`) or a minimum number of seconds (specified as `<float>s`) used
+// to determine how long to run the benchmark.
 //
-// It can be either an exact number of iterations (specified as `<integer>x`),
-// or a minimum number of seconds (specified as `<float>s`). If the latter
-// format (ie., min seconds) is used, the system may run the benchmark longer
-// until the results are considered significant.
+// If the latter format (ie., min seconds) is used, the system may run
+// the benchmark longer until the results are considered significant.
 //
 // For backward compatibility, the `s` suffix may be omitted, in which case,
 // the specified number is interpreted as the number of seconds.
@@ -81,6 +81,19 @@ BM_DEFINE_string(benchmark_filter, "");
 // benchmark execution, regardless of number of threads.
 BM_DEFINE_string(benchmark_min_time, kDefaultMinTimeStr);
 
+// Specification of required relative accuracy used to determine how
+// long to run the benchmark.
+//
+// REQUIRES: time is measured manually.
+//
+// Manual timers provide per-iteration times. The relative accuracy is
+// measured as the standard deviation of these per-iteration times divided by
+// the mean and the square root of the number of iterations. The benchmark is
+// run until both of the following conditions are fulfilled:
+//   1. the specified minimum time or number of iterations is reached
+//   2. the measured relative accuracy meets the specified requirement
+BM_DEFINE_double(benchmark_min_rel_accuracy, 0.0);
+
 // Minimum number of seconds a benchmark should be run before results should be
 // taken into account. This e.g can be necessary for benchmarks of code which
 // needs to fill some form of cache before performance is of interest.
@@ -94,7 +107,7 @@ BM_DEFINE_int32(benchmark_repetitions, 1);
 
 // If enabled, forces each benchmark to execute exactly one iteration and one
 // repetition, bypassing any configured
-// MinTime()/MinWarmUpTime()/Iterations()/Repetitions()
+// MinTime()/MinRelAccuracy()/MinWarmUpTime()/Iterations()/Repetitions()
 BM_DEFINE_bool(benchmark_dry_run, false);
 
 // If set, enable random interleaving of repetitions of all benchmarks.
@@ -722,6 +735,8 @@ void ParseCommandLineFlags(int* argc, char** argv) {
         ParseStringFlag(argv[i], "benchmark_filter", &FLAGS_benchmark_filter) ||
         ParseStringFlag(argv[i], "benchmark_min_time",
                         &FLAGS_benchmark_min_time) ||
+        ParseDoubleFlag(argv[i], "benchmark_min_rel_accuracy",
+                        &FLAGS_benchmark_min_rel_accuracy) ||
         ParseDoubleFlag(argv[i], "benchmark_min_warmup_time",
                         &FLAGS_benchmark_min_warmup_time) ||
         ParseInt32Flag(argv[i], "benchmark_repetitions",
@@ -793,7 +808,8 @@ void PrintDefaultHelp() {
           "benchmark"
           " [--benchmark_list_tests={true|false}]\n"
           "          [--benchmark_filter=<regex>]\n"
-          "          [--benchmark_min_time=`<integer>x` OR `<float>s` ]\n"
+          "          [--benchmark_min_time=`<integer>x` OR `<float>s`]\n"
+          "          [--benchmark_min_rel_accuracy=<min_rel_accuracy>]\n"
           "          [--benchmark_min_warmup_time=<min_warmup_time>]\n"
           "          [--benchmark_repetitions=<num_repetitions>]\n"
           "          [--benchmark_dry_run={true|false}]\n"

src/benchmark_api_internal.cc

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ BenchmarkInstance::BenchmarkInstance(Benchmark* benchmark, int family_idx,
       statistics_(benchmark_.statistics_),
       repetitions_(benchmark_.repetitions_),
       min_time_(benchmark_.min_time_),
+      min_rel_accuracy_(benchmark_.min_rel_accuracy_),
       min_warmup_time_(benchmark_.min_warmup_time_),
       iterations_(benchmark_.iterations_),
       threads_(thread_count) {
@@ -51,6 +52,11 @@ BenchmarkInstance::BenchmarkInstance(Benchmark* benchmark, int family_idx,
     name_.min_time = StrFormat("min_time:%0.3f", benchmark_.min_time_);
   }
 
+  if (!IsZero(benchmark->min_rel_accuracy_)) {
+    name_.min_rel_accuracy =
+        StrFormat("min_rel_accuracy:%0.3f", benchmark_.min_rel_accuracy_);
+  }
+
   if (!IsZero(benchmark->min_warmup_time_)) {
     name_.min_warmup_time =
         StrFormat("min_warmup_time:%0.3f", benchmark_.min_warmup_time_);

src/benchmark_api_internal.h

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class BenchmarkInstance {
   const std::vector<Statistics>& statistics() const { return statistics_; }
   int repetitions() const { return repetitions_; }
   double min_time() const { return min_time_; }
+  double min_rel_accuracy() const { return min_rel_accuracy_; }
   double min_warmup_time() const { return min_warmup_time_; }
   IterationCount iterations() const { return iterations_; }
   int threads() const { return threads_; }
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ class BenchmarkInstance {
   const std::vector<Statistics>& statistics_;
   int repetitions_;
   double min_time_;
+  double min_rel_accuracy_;
   double min_warmup_time_;
   IterationCount iterations_;
   int threads_;  // Number of concurrent threads to us

src/benchmark_register.cc

@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ Benchmark::Benchmark(const std::string& name)
       use_default_time_unit_(true),
       range_multiplier_(kRangeMultiplier),
       min_time_(0),
+      min_rel_accuracy_(0),
       min_warmup_time_(0),
       iterations_(0),
       repetitions_(0),
@@ -356,6 +357,14 @@ Benchmark* Benchmark::MinTime(double t) {
   return this;
 }
 
+Benchmark* Benchmark::MinRelAccuracy(double r) {
+  BM_CHECK(r > 0.0);
+  BM_CHECK(iterations_ == 0);
+  BM_CHECK(use_manual_time_);
+  min_rel_accuracy_ = r;
+  return this;
+}
+
 Benchmark* Benchmark::MinWarmUpTime(double t) {
   BM_CHECK(t >= 0.0);
   BM_CHECK(iterations_ == 0);

src/benchmark_runner.cc

@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ namespace benchmark {
 
 BM_DECLARE_bool(benchmark_dry_run);
 BM_DECLARE_string(benchmark_min_time);
+BM_DECLARE_double(benchmark_min_rel_accuracy);
 BM_DECLARE_double(benchmark_min_warmup_time);
 BM_DECLARE_int32(benchmark_repetitions);
 BM_DECLARE_bool(benchmark_report_aggregates_only);
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ BenchmarkReporter::Run CreateRunReport(
   if (!report.skipped) {
     if (b.use_manual_time()) {
       report.real_accumulated_time = results.manual_time_used;
+      report.manual_accumulated_time_pow2 = results.manual_time_used_pow2;
     } else {
       report.real_accumulated_time = results.real_time_used;
     }
@@ -151,6 +153,7 @@ void RunInThread(const BenchmarkInstance* b, IterationCount iters,
     results.cpu_time_used += timer.cpu_time_used();
     results.real_time_used += timer.real_time_used();
     results.manual_time_used += timer.manual_time_used();
+    results.manual_time_used_pow2 += timer.manual_time_used_pow2();
     results.complexity_n += st.complexity_length_n();
     internal::Increment(&results.counters, st.counters);
   }
@@ -239,6 +242,11 @@ BenchmarkRunner::BenchmarkRunner(
       min_time(FLAGS_benchmark_dry_run
                    ? 0
                    : ComputeMinTime(b_, parsed_benchtime_flag)),
+      min_rel_accuracy(FLAGS_benchmark_dry_run
+                   ? std::numeric_limits<double>::max()
+                   : (!IsZero(b.min_rel_accuracy())
+                           ? b.min_rel_accuracy()
+                           : FLAGS_benchmark_min_rel_accuracy)),
       min_warmup_time(
           FLAGS_benchmark_dry_run
               ? 0
@@ -318,8 +326,10 @@ BenchmarkRunner::IterationResults BenchmarkRunner::DoNIterations() {
 
   // Base decisions off of real time if requested by this benchmark.
   i.seconds = i.results.cpu_time_used;
+  i.seconds_pow2 = 0;
   if (b.use_manual_time()) {
     i.seconds = i.results.manual_time_used;
+    i.seconds_pow2 = i.results.manual_time_used_pow2;
   } else if (b.use_real_time()) {
     i.seconds = i.results.real_time_used;
   }
@@ -340,6 +350,11 @@ IterationCount BenchmarkRunner::PredictNumItersNeeded(
   const bool is_significant = (i.seconds / GetMinTimeToApply()) > 0.1;
   multiplier = is_significant ? multiplier : 10.0;
 
+  if (!IsZero(GetMinRelAccuracy())) {
+    multiplier =
+        std::max(multiplier, GetRelAccuracy(i) * 1.4 / GetMinRelAccuracy());
+  }
+
   // So what seems to be the sufficiently-large iteration count? Round up.
   const IterationCount max_next_iters = static_cast<IterationCount>(
       std::llround(std::max(multiplier * static_cast<double>(i.iters),
@@ -357,14 +372,12 @@ bool BenchmarkRunner::ShouldReportIterationResults(
   // Either it has run for a sufficient amount of time
   // or because an error was reported.
   return i.results.skipped_ || FLAGS_benchmark_dry_run ||
-         i.iters >= kMaxIterations ||  // Too many iterations already.
-         i.seconds >=
-             GetMinTimeToApply() ||  // The elapsed time is large enough.
-         // CPU time is specified but the elapsed real time greatly exceeds
-         // the minimum time.
-         // Note that user provided timers are except from this test.
-         ((i.results.real_time_used >= 5 * GetMinTimeToApply()) &&
-          !b.use_manual_time());
+         // Too many iterations already.
+         i.iters >= kMaxIterations ||
+         // We have applied for enough time and the relative accuracy is good
+         // enough. Relative accuracy is checked only for user provided timers.
+         (HasSufficientTimeToApply(i) &&
+          (!b.use_manual_time() || HasSufficientRelAccuracy(i)));
 }
 
 double BenchmarkRunner::GetMinTimeToApply() const {
@@ -376,6 +389,26 @@ double BenchmarkRunner::GetMinTimeToApply() const {
   return warmup_done ? min_time : min_warmup_time;
 }
 
+double BenchmarkRunner::GetRelAccuracy(const IterationResults& i) const {
+  return std::sqrt(i.seconds_pow2 - std::pow(i.seconds, 2.) / static_cast<double>(i.iters)) / i.seconds;
+}
+
+bool BenchmarkRunner::HasSufficientTimeToApply(
+    const IterationResults& i) const {
+  return i.seconds >= GetMinTimeToApply() ||
+         // CPU time is specified but the elapsed real time greatly exceeds
+         // the minimum time.
+         // Note that user provided timers are except from this test.
+         (!b.use_manual_time() &&
+          i.results.real_time_used >= 5 * GetMinTimeToApply());
+}
+
+bool BenchmarkRunner::HasSufficientRelAccuracy(
+    const IterationResults& i) const {
+  return (IsZero(GetMinRelAccuracy()) ||
+          (GetRelAccuracy(i) <= GetMinRelAccuracy()));
+}
+
 void BenchmarkRunner::FinishWarmUp(const IterationCount& i) {
   warmup_done = true;
   iters = i;

src/benchmark_runner.h

@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ class BenchmarkRunner {
 
   double GetMinTime() const { return min_time; }
 
+  double GetMinRelAccuracy() const { return min_rel_accuracy; }
+
   bool HasExplicitIters() const { return has_explicit_iteration_count; }
 
   IterationCount GetIters() const { return iters; }
@@ -83,6 +85,7 @@ class BenchmarkRunner {
 
   BenchTimeType parsed_benchtime_flag;
   const double min_time;
+  const double min_rel_accuracy;
   const double min_warmup_time;
   bool warmup_done;
   const int repeats;
@@ -104,6 +107,7 @@ class BenchmarkRunner {
     internal::ThreadManager::Result results;
     IterationCount iters;
     double seconds;
+    double seconds_pow2;
   };
   IterationResults DoNIterations();
 
@@ -117,6 +121,12 @@ class BenchmarkRunner {
 
   double GetMinTimeToApply() const;
 
+  double GetRelAccuracy(const IterationResults& i) const;
+
+  bool HasSufficientTimeToApply(const IterationResults& i) const;
+
+  bool HasSufficientRelAccuracy(const IterationResults& i) const;
+
   void FinishWarmUp(const IterationCount& i);
 
   void RunWarmUp();

src/thread_manager.h

@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ class ThreadManager {
     double real_time_used = 0;
     double cpu_time_used = 0;
     double manual_time_used = 0;
+    double manual_time_used_pow2 = 0;
     int64_t complexity_n = 0;
     std::string report_label_;
     std::string skip_message_;

src/thread_timer.h

@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ class ThreadTimer {
   }
 
   // Called by each thread
-  void SetIterationTime(double seconds) { manual_time_used_ += seconds; }
+  void SetIterationTime(double seconds) {
+    manual_time_used_ += seconds;
+    manual_time_used_pow2_ += std::pow(seconds, 2.);
+  }
 
   bool running() const { return running_; }
 
@@ -60,6 +63,11 @@ class ThreadTimer {
     return manual_time_used_;
   }
 
+  double manual_time_used_pow2() const {
+    BM_CHECK(!running_);
+    return manual_time_used_pow2_;
+  }
+
  private:
   double ReadCpuTimerOfChoice() const {
     if (measure_process_cpu_time) return ProcessCPUUsage();
@@ -78,6 +86,7 @@ class ThreadTimer {
   double cpu_time_used_ = 0;
   // Manually set iteration time. User sets this with SetIterationTime(seconds).
   double manual_time_used_ = 0;
+  double manual_time_used_pow2_ = 0;
 };
 
 }  // namespace internal

test/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ benchmark_add_test(NAME min_time_flag_time COMMAND benchmark_min_time_flag_time_
 compile_benchmark_test(benchmark_min_time_flag_iters_test)
 benchmark_add_test(NAME min_time_flag_iters COMMAND benchmark_min_time_flag_iters_test)
 
+compile_benchmark_test(benchmark_min_rel_accuracy_flag_test)
+benchmark_add_test(NAME min_rel_accuracy_flag_test COMMAND benchmark_min_rel_accuracy_flag_test)
+
 add_filter_test(filter_simple "Foo" 3)
 add_filter_test(filter_simple_negative "-Foo" 2)
 add_filter_test(filter_suffix "BM_.*" 4)