Tips for Writing Fast Rails: Part 2

Some time ago we wrote a couple of Tips for Writing Fast Rails opens a new window . It was about time we wrote part two so here it is!

In this article we will focus on the use of ActiveRecord::Calculations opens a new window . To show the difference in execution time between doing the math in the database vs. in Ruby we will use benchmark-ips opens a new window . Keep in mind that the table used in these examples has thousands of records, so the difference should be quite noticeable.

Prefer ActiveRecord::Calculations#sum opens a new window instead of Enumerable#sum opens a new window

Usually in Rails opens a new window applications we find many references to Enumerable::sum for summing values. This is a common mistake because ActiveRecord::Calculations provides a way to do this without loading a bunch of ActiveRecord objects in memory. If you want to perform mathematical operations for a set of records following the Rails way, ActiveRecord::Calculations is the best way to do them in the database.

Benchmark.ips do |x|
  x.report("SQL sum") do
    Loan.sum(:balance)
  end

  x.report("Ruby sum") do
    Loan.sum(&:balance)
    # Same as: Loan.all.map { |loan| loan.balance }.sum
  end

  x.compare!
end

# Comparison:
#            SQL sum:        7.89 i/s
#           Ruby sum:        0.03 i/s - 209.85x  slower

Prefer ActiveRecord::Calculations#maximum opens a new window instead of Enumerable#max opens a new window

As we explained above, to perform better with calculations you should use ActiveRecord::Calculations methods whenever is possible.

Benchmark.ips do |x|
  x.report("SQL max") do
    Loan.maximum(:amount)
  end

  x.report("Ruby max") do
    Loan.pluck(:amount).max
  end

  x.compare!
end

# Comparison:
#              SQL max:      541.9 i/s
#             Ruby max:        0.5 i/s - 1113.47x  slower

Prefer ActiveRecord::Calculations#minimum opens a new window instead of Enumerable#min opens a new window

Benchmark.ips do |x|
  x.report("SQL min") do
    Loan.minimum(:amount)
  end

  x.report("Ruby min") do
    Loan.pluck(:amount).min
  end

  x.compare!
end

# Comparison:
#              SQL min:      533.3 i/s
#             Ruby min:        0.5 i/s - 1017.21x  slower

Conclusion

As you can see, changing the way that you solve the problem can have significant performance improvements. Don’t forget to take a look at the ActiveRecord::Calculations documentation opens a new window to see all the available methods.