python / python/cpython

Speed up PyObject_CallMethod by avoiding the temporary bound method

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interpreter-core performance topic-C-API type-feature
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Feature or enhancement

Proposal:

PyObject_CallMethod() (and siblings _PyObject_CallMethod(), PyEval_CallMethod(), _PyObject_CallMethodId() and _PyObject_CallMethod_SizeT()) look the method up with PyObject_GetAttr(), which materialises a temporary bound-method object (PyMethodObject) on every call, then call it and throw it away.

The interpreter itself avoids this for obj.meth(...) by using _PyObject_GetMethod() (the LOAD_METHOD lookup), which returns the unbound function plus a flag and calls it with self prepended.

In PyObject_CallMethod() we can resolve the method with _PyObject_GetMethod() and call it directly
(_PyObject_VectorcallPrepend when unbound). The now-unused callmethod() and _PyObject_CallMethodFormat() helpers are removed.

benchmark main patch speedup
CallMethod / C method tzinfo.utcoffset(dt) 116 ns 102 ns 1.14x
CallMethod / C method {}.get(k) 116 ns 109 ns 1.06x
CallMethod / C method "..".count(x) 131 ns 122 ns 1.07x
CallMethod / py method obj.m(x) 118 ns 97 ns 1.21x
CallMethod / no args (10**6).bit_length() 104 ns 81 ns 1.27x
_PyObject_CallMethod (interned name) tzinfo.utcoffset(dt) 43.7 ns 39.4 ns 1.11x
io.readline 1.15 us 1.05 us 1.09x
bisect.insort (list subclass) 465 ns 452 ns 1.03x
Geometric mean 1.12x

The CallMethod rows are isolated per-call measurements via a small _testinternalcapi harness; io.readline and bisect.insort are pure-Python paths that reach the C-API indirectly. The performance can also impact C-extensions that use the PyObject_CallMethod interface.

Benchmark script (pyperf)
"""Combined pyperf benchmark for the PyObject_CallMethod optimization.

PyObject_CallMethod is a C-API entry point with no direct Python equivalent
(`obj.m()` compiles to LOAD_METHOD/CALL), so the per-call cost is measured two
ways:

* Isolated: via the _testinternalcapi.bench_callmethod harness, which loops the
  raw C-API call.  Each measured op is exactly one CallMethod-family call.
  (Harness is a local build artifact; these cases are skipped if absent.)
* End-to-end: io's IOBase.readline() calls _PyObject_CallMethod(self, read, 1)
  once per byte, so reading a line is a pure-Python path that hits it ~2000x.

Run:
    python bench_callmethod_pyperf.py -o new.json
    python bench_callmethod_pyperf.py --compare-to old.json
"""
import datetime
import io
import pyperf

try:
    import _testinternalcapi
    _bench = _testinternalcapi.bench_callmethod
except (ImportError, AttributeError):
    _bench = None

# --- data for the isolated cases ---
tz = datetime.timezone(datetime.timedelta(hours=5, minutes=30))
dt = datetime.datetime(2024, 6, 1, 12, 0, tzinfo=tz)

class PyObj:
    def m(self, x):
        return x

# (label, obj, name, arg, mode)   mode 0=PyObject_CallMethod "O",
#                                 2=PyObject_CallMethod NULL, 3=_PyObject_CallMethod
ISOLATED = [
    ("CallMethod / C method  tzinfo.utcoffset(dt)", tz, "utcoffset", dt, 0),
    ("CallMethod / C method  {}.get(k)",            {}, "get", "k", 0),
    ("CallMethod / C method  '..'.count(x)",        "hello world", "count", "l", 0),
    ("CallMethod / py method obj.m(x)",             PyObj(), "m", 5, 0),
    ("CallMethod / no args   (10**6).bit_length()", 10 ** 6, "bit_length", 0, 2),
    ("_PyObject_CallMethod   tzinfo.utcoffset(dt)", tz, "utcoffset", dt, 3),
]

def make_iso(obj, name, arg, mode):
    def run(loops):
        t0 = pyperf.perf_counter()
        _bench(obj, name, arg, loops, mode)
        return pyperf.perf_counter() - t0
    return run

# --- end-to-end io case (pure Python, no harness needed) ---
LINE_LEN = 2000

class Raw(io.RawIOBase):
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data
        self.pos = 0
    def readable(self):
        return True
    def readinto(self, b):
        if self.pos >= len(self.data):
            return 0
        k = min(len(b), len(self.data) - self.pos)
        b[:k] = self.data[self.pos:self.pos + k]
        self.pos += k
        return k

def bench_io(loops):
    line = b"a" * LINE_LEN + b"\n"
    r = Raw(line)
    t0 = pyperf.perf_counter()
    for _ in range(loops):
        r.pos = 0
        r.readline()
    return pyperf.perf_counter() - t0

# A second, different pure-Python path: bisect.insort on a list *subclass* goes
# through _PyObject_CallMethod(a, "insert", "nO", index, x) -- exact lists take a
# PyList_Insert fast path that bypasses the call.  (Distinct "nO" / 2-arg path.)
import bisect

class SubList(list):
    pass

def bench_insort(loops):
    a = SubList(range(0, 32, 2))   # small even list, keeps the insert shift cheap
    t0 = pyperf.perf_counter()
    for _ in range(loops):
        bisect.insort_right(a, 15)        # -> _PyObject_CallMethod(a, "insert", ...)
        del a[bisect.bisect_left(a, 15)]  # remove it again to keep 'a' stable
    return pyperf.perf_counter() - t0

if __name__ == "__main__":
    runner = pyperf.Runner()
    if _bench is not None:
        for label, obj, name, arg, mode in ISOLATED:
            runner.bench_time_func(label, make_iso(obj, name, arg, mode))
    runner.bench_time_func("io.readline (per _PyObject_CallMethod)",
                           bench_io, inner_loops=LINE_LEN)
    runner.bench_time_func("bisect.insort (list subclass, _PyObject_CallMethod)",
                           bench_insort)
Has this already been discussed elsewhere?

No response given

Links to previous discussion of this feature:

No response

Linked PRs
  • gh-151158

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with PyObject_CallMethod() and its listed sibling APIs, then compare their lookup and call paths with _PyObject_GetMethod() and _PyObject_VectorcallPrepend. Review linked PR gh-151158 and the benchmark script in the issue; done means the affected APIs avoid temporary bound methods without changing behavior and the reported benchmarks still pass.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c, python
Domain
api, performance
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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