Bun vs Node.js: Performance Benchmark in Kubernetes #212

Summary

This video compares the performance of Node.js and Bun, a JavaScript runtime built with Zig, across two tests. In the first test, both technologies are used to create web servers deployed on Kubernetes. The results reveal Node.js initially outperforms Bun in latency, but struggles with CPU throttling under load, while Bun handles more requests with better efficiency. In the second test, using a PostgreSQL database, Node.js excels in stability and latency. Bun, while faster in some areas, consumes more CPU. The video invites viewers to suggest optimization tips and contribute improvements.

Takeaways

• 🚀 Bun, a new JavaScript runtime built with the Zig programming language, is designed to be a drop-in replacement for Node.js.
• 🔄 Bun enables easy porting of existing Node.js applications with minimal code modifications, making it suitable for quick transitions.
• ⚖️ The video includes two benchmarks: the first measures performance using a basic web server, while the second tests a real-world scenario with database interactions.
• 📊 In the first benchmark, Node.js outperforms Bun initially in terms of latency, but Bun maintains better performance under high load, handling up to 90,000 requests per second.
• 💻 Node.js experiences higher CPU usage and throttling under load, causing latency spikes and request drops. Bun, on the other hand, uses less CPU and handles more requests consistently.
• 📉 In the second, real-world benchmark, Node.js shows superior stability and lower latency when handling database operations compared to Bun.
• 🔍 Bun uses more CPU and creates fewer threads compared to Node.js in both tests, indicating differences in resource handling between the two runtimes.
• 📈 Node.js's performance degrades quickly when CPU usage exceeds 60%, while Bun maintains stable latency even at higher request rates.
• 🛠️ The speaker invites suggestions and pull requests for performance optimizations, showing an openness to community contributions.
• 📅 The video suggests a potential follow-up with Node.js cluster mode and more advanced scaling tests in the future.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of this video?

The video compares the performance of Node.js with Bun, a modern JavaScript runtime built with the Zig programming language. It runs benchmarks to highlight the differences in latency, CPU usage, memory, and other metrics.

What is Bun, and how is it related to Node.js?

Bun is a JavaScript runtime built from scratch using Zig, designed to be a drop-in replacement for Node.js. The video demonstrates how the developer ported an existing Node.js app to Bun with minimal modifications.

What kind of tests are performed in this comparison?

Two tests are performed: a synthetic benchmark with a simple API returning hardcoded JSON, and a real-world use case where POST requests are processed and inserted into a PostgreSQL database.

How does Node.js perform in the first synthetic test compared to Bun?

In the first test, Node.js initially performs better than Bun with lower latency under low load, but as the load increases, Node.js starts using more CPU and experiences throttling, which degrades its performance. Bun eventually outperforms Node.js by handling more requests with lower CPU usage.

What were the results of the second real-world test?

In the second test, which involves handling POST requests and inserting data into PostgreSQL, Node.js outperforms Bun with more stable latency and better database performance. Bun uses more CPU in this test and struggles with higher loads.

What metrics were used to evaluate the performance of both Node.js and Bun?

The performance metrics include p99 latency, CPU usage, memory usage, availability, CPU throttling, requests per second, and the number of threads created by each application.

How does CPU throttling affect the performance of Node.js?

As Node.js CPU usage reaches 40%, its latency starts to increase, and at 60%, it experiences significant performance degradation due to CPU throttling. This limits the number of requests Node.js can handle.

What were the key differences in thread usage between Node.js and Bun?

Node.js creates 11 threads per instance, with most of the work happening on a single thread, while Bun creates fewer threads, using only 4 threads in the first test and 7 in the second. Both runtimes primarily use one thread for most of the work.

Why does the developer say Node.js performs better in the second test?

In the second test, Node.js has more stable latency and performs better with database operations. The developer notes that despite using the same codebase for both, Node.js has better performance with fewer latency spikes compared to Bun.

What future tests or comparisons does the developer plan to perform?

The developer plans to compare Node.js cluster mode with horizontal scaling in Kubernetes, as well as testing the applications on virtual machines (VMs) with auto-scaling groups.