To run:
composer install
composer run-script download
composer run-script testExample output:
> phpbench run Bench.php --report=default
PHPBench (1.2.14) running benchmarks... #standwithukraine
with PHP version 8.0.28, xdebug ✔, opcache ❌
\Bench
benchPregReplaceDocument................I4 - Mo172.566μs (±2.29%)
benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument...........I4 - Mo5.628ms (±2.57%)
benchPregReplaceScriptTag...............I4 - Mo3.848μs (±4.86%)
benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag..........I4 - Mo35.582μs (±6.77%)
Subjects: 4, Assertions: 0, Failures: 0, Errors: 0
+------+-----------+--------------------------------+-----+------+------------+-------------+--------------+----------------+
| iter | benchmark | subject | set | revs | mem_peak | time_avg | comp_z_value | comp_deviation |
+------+-----------+--------------------------------+-----+------+------------+-------------+--------------+----------------+
| 0 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 100 | 1,012,632b | 171.880μs | -0.66σ | -1.51% |
| 1 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 100 | 1,012,632b | 172.790μs | -0.43σ | -0.99% |
| 2 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 100 | 1,012,632b | 173.900μs | -0.16σ | -0.36% |
| 3 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 100 | 1,012,632b | 171.690μs | -0.71σ | -1.62% |
| 4 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 100 | 1,012,632b | 182.350μs | +1.96σ | +4.49% |
| 0 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 100 | 1,121,992b | 5,674.360μs | -0.28σ | -0.72% |
| 1 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 100 | 1,121,992b | 5,822.110μs | +0.73σ | +1.86% |
| 2 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 100 | 1,121,992b | 5,943.260μs | +1.55σ | +3.98% |
| 3 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 100 | 1,121,992b | 5,564.630μs | -1.03σ | -2.64% |
| 4 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 100 | 1,121,992b | 5,573.260μs | -0.97σ | -2.49% |
| 0 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 3.820μs | +0.45σ | +2.19% |
| 1 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 3.910μs | +0.95σ | +4.60% |
| 2 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 3.620μs | -0.65σ | -3.16% |
| 3 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 3.440μs | -1.64σ | -7.97% |
| 4 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 3.900μs | +0.89σ | +4.33% |
| 0 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 36.540μs | -0.04σ | -0.28% |
| 1 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 40.680μs | +1.63σ | +11.02% |
| 2 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 34.170μs | -1.00σ | -6.75% |
| 3 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 37.820μs | +0.47σ | +3.21% |
| 4 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 100 | 980,752b | 34.000μs | -1.06σ | -7.21% |
+------+-----------+--------------------------------+-----+------+------------+-------------+--------------+----------------+
Here's increasing the iterations and revolutions via composer run-script test -- --iterations=10 --revs=500:
> phpbench run Bench.php --report=default '--iterations=10' '--revs=500'
PHPBench (1.2.14) running benchmarks... #standwithukraine
with PHP version 8.0.28, xdebug ✔, opcache ❌
\Bench
benchPregReplaceDocument................I9 - Mo170.796μs (±8.08%)
benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument...........I9 - Mo6.167ms (±12.65%)
benchPregReplaceScriptTag...............I9 - Mo3.972μs (±6.88%)
benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag..........I9 - Mo43.674μs (±7.63%)
Subjects: 4, Assertions: 0, Failures: 0, Errors: 0
+------+-----------+--------------------------------+-----+------+------------+-------------+--------------+----------------+
| iter | benchmark | subject | set | revs | mem_peak | time_avg | comp_z_value | comp_deviation |
+------+-----------+--------------------------------+-----+------+------------+-------------+--------------+----------------+
| 0 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 165.430μs | -0.69σ | -5.58% |
| 1 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 165.204μs | -0.71σ | -5.70% |
| 2 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 167.324μs | -0.56σ | -4.49% |
| 3 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 161.122μs | -0.99σ | -8.03% |
| 4 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 178.980μs | +0.27σ | +2.16% |
| 5 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 176.392μs | +0.08σ | +0.68% |
| 6 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 173.806μs | -0.10σ | -0.80% |
| 7 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 170.104μs | -0.36σ | -2.91% |
| 8 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 179.916μs | +0.33σ | +2.69% |
| 9 | Bench | benchPregReplaceDocument | | 500 | 1,012,632b | 213.712μs | +2.72σ | +21.98% |
| 0 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 6,205.614μs | -0.56σ | -7.05% |
| 1 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 5,998.362μs | -0.80σ | -10.15% |
| 2 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 5,664.802μs | -1.20σ | -15.15% |
| 3 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 5,828.444μs | -1.00σ | -12.70% |
| 4 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 6,099.154μs | -0.68σ | -8.65% |
| 5 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 6,647.214μs | -0.03σ | -0.44% |
| 6 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 7,335.862μs | +0.78σ | +9.88% |
| 7 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 7,146.024μs | +0.56σ | +7.04% |
| 8 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 7,355.010μs | +0.80σ | +10.17% |
| 9 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorDocument | | 500 | 1,121,992b | 8,482.808μs | +2.14σ | +27.06% |
| 0 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 4.268μs | +0.70σ | +4.79% |
| 1 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 4.112μs | +0.14σ | +0.96% |
| 2 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 4.012μs | -0.22σ | -1.49% |
| 3 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 4.042μs | -0.11σ | -0.76% |
| 4 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 4.038μs | -0.12σ | -0.85% |
| 5 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 4.816μs | +2.65σ | +18.25% |
| 6 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 3.916μs | -0.56σ | -3.85% |
| 7 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 3.864μs | -0.75σ | -5.13% |
| 8 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 3.842μs | -0.82σ | -5.67% |
| 9 | Bench | benchPregReplaceScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 3.818μs | -0.91σ | -6.26% |
| 0 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 48.380μs | +0.77σ | +5.87% |
| 1 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 42.704μs | -0.86σ | -6.55% |
| 2 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 42.650μs | -0.87σ | -6.67% |
| 3 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 42.698μs | -0.86σ | -6.57% |
| 4 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 45.418μs | -0.08σ | -0.61% |
| 5 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 44.826μs | -0.25σ | -1.91% |
| 6 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 44.734μs | -0.28σ | -2.11% |
| 7 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 52.458μs | +1.94σ | +14.79% |
| 8 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 42.186μs | -1.01σ | -7.69% |
| 9 | Bench | benchHtmlTagProcessorScriptTag | | 500 | 980,752b | 50.930μs | +1.50σ | +11.45% |
+------+-----------+--------------------------------+-----+------+------------+-------------+--------------+----------------+
So in these tests, using PREG functions is ~36x faster than WP_HTML_Tag_Processor when processing a full HTML document.
And when processing a single HTML tag, PREG is ~11x faster than WP_HTML_Tag_Processor.
So using regular expressions is indeed much faster, but at the same time they are much riskier. When deciding between the two we will have to weigh the pros and cons of performance versus security and correctness.