Optimization Levels¶

Glaze provides an optimization_level option that controls the trade-off between binary size and runtime performance. This is useful for embedded systems and other size-constrained environments.

Quick Start¶

// Default (normal) - maximum performance
auto json = glz::write_json(obj);

// Size-optimized for embedded systems
auto json = glz::write<glz::opts_size{}>(obj);

Available Levels¶

Level	Preset	Integer Serialization	Float Serialization	Key Lookup
`normal`	(default)	`to_chars_40kb` (40KB tables)	zmij (~17KB pow-10 tables)	Hash tables
`size`	`opts_size`	`to_chars` (400B tables)	zmij `OptSize=true` (recomputed, ~1.4KB)	Linear search

Optimization Level Details¶

Normal (Default)¶

The default optimization level, optimized for maximum runtime performance.

// These are equivalent:
glz::write_json(obj, buffer);
glz::write<glz::opts{}>(obj, buffer);

Characteristics:

Uses 40KB digit lookup tables for fast integer-to-string conversion
Uses zmij with ~17KB pow-10 lookup tables for float-to-string
Uses compile-time generated hash tables for O(1) key lookup
Best throughput for high-volume JSON processing

Size¶

Minimizes binary size for embedded systems.

glz::write<glz::opts_size{}>(obj, buffer);
glz::read<glz::opts_size{}>(obj, buffer);

Characteristics:

Uses glz::to_chars for integers (400B lookup tables, 1.6x faster than std::to_chars)
Uses glz::to_chars<T, OptSize=true> for floats (zmij with the pow-10 tables dropped; recomputed on the fly)
Defaults to linear search for key matching (no hash tables)
Significantly smaller binary size

Approximate Binary Size Savings:

~39KB from using smaller integer lookup tables (400B vs 40KB)
~15.8KB from dropping zmij's pow-10 tables (OptSize=true)
Variable savings from hash table elimination

Custom Options Struct¶

You can create a custom options struct with the optimization level:

struct my_opts : glz::opts
{
   glz::optimization_level optimization_level = glz::optimization_level::size;
   // Add other options as needed
   bool prettify = true;
};

glz::write<my_opts{}>(obj, buffer);

Combining with Other Options¶

The optimization level works with all other Glaze options:

struct embedded_opts : glz::opts
{
   glz::optimization_level optimization_level = glz::optimization_level::size;
   bool minified = true;  // Also skip whitespace parsing for smaller code
   bool error_on_unknown_keys = false;  // More lenient parsing
};

Platform Considerations¶

Both optimization levels use glz::to_chars (zmij) for floats. The only difference is whether the pow-10 tables are linked in (normal) or recomputed on the fly (size). Both variants work on all platforms, including bare-metal and older Apple targets.

When to Use Each Level¶

Use Case	Recommended Level
Server-side JSON processing	`normal`
Desktop applications	`normal`
Embedded systems	`size`