`unpack_sequence` benchmark runs slower under JIT
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Description
Bug report
Bug description:
The pyperformance unpack_sequence benchmark is the worst-performing JIT benchmark on https://www.doesjitgobrrr.com — geomean speedup 0.586× (JIT ~1.7× slower).
The benchmark is a single function with 400 inlined a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j = to_unpack statements inside a for loop. to_unpack = tuple(range(10)) is reused (refcount > 1, so _UNPACK_SEQUENCE_UNIQUE_TUPLE never fires).
Analysis of the slowdown
The JIT covers all 400 unpacks via ~22 sequential traces (~775 uops, ~19 unpacks each), linked tail-to-tail through _EXIT_TRACE → _START_EXECUTOR, totalling ~18 MB of JIT code. This is a consequence of trace length / fitness limits ([UOP_MAX_TRACE_LENGTH] https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/main/Include/internal/pycore_uop.h#L42), EXIT_QUALITY_* from gh-146073) and is arguably fine - 400 inline statements isn't realistic code. Inter-trace transition cost alone would not produce a 1.7× slowdown. Nevertheless, longer traces would help here.
Per unpack: ~33 uops vs tier 1's ~12 bytecodes — ~2.7× more dispatches. The trace recorder unconditionally emits a _CHECK_VALIDITY + _SET_IP pair before every source bytecode at Python/optimizer.c:902-906. Per unpack:
LOAD_FAST_BORROW t (1)
UNPACK_SEQUENCE 10 (1)
STORE_FAST_STORE_FAST × 5 (5; pair-fused by the compiler)
── 7 source bytecodes → 6 _CHECK_VALIDITY+_SET_IP pairs steady state
Tier 1 has no analog. Each _CHECK_VALIDITY issues a load+branch on current_executor->vm_data.valid; each _SET_IP issues a store to frame->instr_ptr. 12 such uops × 400 unpacks × 20000 iterations is the bulk of the regression.
A naive elimination pass cannot drop them because every gap contains at least one uop with HAS_ESCAPES_FLAG — typically _POP_TOP, conservatively flagged as escaping (its Py_DECREF could run __del__).
CPython versions tested on:
CPython main branch
Operating systems tested on:
Linux
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the pyperformance unpack_sequence result and reading the trace-recorder logic in Python/optimizer.c around lines 902-906. Review UOP_MAX_TRACE_LENGTH in Include/internal/pycore_uop.h and inspect the generated traces and validity checks described in the report. The issue does not define a specific fix or acceptance test, so confirm the intended optimization and benchmark-based success criteria before changing code.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- compilers, performance
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 42/100