zsh-bench VS zsh4humans

Someone's made a benchmarking system for zsh: https://github.com/romkatv/zsh-bench#premade-configs

Of course, their config is the best according to the benchmark (and ohmyzsh is the slowest option), but DIY configs are also covered, particularly possible performance optimizations.

Unfortunately, running exit is not a great strategy for running benchmarks. For zsh specifically, plugin managers are optimized for fast exit.

romkatv did a great write-up and benchmark within the context of zsh[0]. It's a great read.

[0] https://github.com/romkatv/zsh-bench#how-not-to-benchmark

Given the addition of async rendering in the latest release of spaceship, I wasn't sure whether I should include performance in the list of features found in powerlevel10kbut but not in spaceship. I used zsh-bench to benchmark powerlevel10k on my laptop running on battery (I'm writing this on a train) with a config that makes powerlevel10k looks similar to spaceship. I simply ran p10k configure and chose what looked most similar: Lean Style, UNICODE, 256 colors, two lines, etc. Here are the benchmark results:

Obligatory link since you are engaging in profiling interactive zsh: https://github.com/romkatv/zsh-bench.

1.) It's fast. Like, really fast. 1.) It supports deferred loading via zsh-defer 1.) It supports local plugins as well as ones hosted via a git provider (aka: GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, etc) 1.) The codebase is simple and easy to understand and contribute to 1.) It supports git branches (with tag/shas on the roadmap) 1.) It supports partial plugin loading such as loading Oh-My-Zsh plugins and Prezto modules without loading the whole framework. 1.) There's an easy migration path from legacy plugin managers like Antigen/Antibody. 1.) Plugins are managed via a simple plugins file that makes it easy to share your config with others. 1.) And lots more

In any case, slow zsh startup is always caused by whatever you put in zsh startup files and it's always possible to reduce zsh startup to imperceptible levels without sacrificing any functionality by editing said startup files. There is a bit of info on interactive zsh performance at https://github.com/romkatv/zsh-bench.

Why is this a good thing? Is this a proxy for performance? If so, you can measure performance directly with zsh-bench. This way you can describe the advantage in terms that have real value to end users. For example, you can say that the first prompt appears N milliseconds faster when using Zpy than if you were using something-else.

You can find specific examples of autoload +X in https://github.com/romkatv/zsh4humans/tree/v5.

zsh4humans (from the creator of Powerlevel10k)

But I like the Powerlevel10k zsh theme with the Lean Style a bit more than that. I'm using it with his configurable zsh setup as my base + zcomet plugin manager. Otherwise they're pretty similar as far as general looks & use goes.

Docs are here and here. I wouldn't recommend trying zsh4humans if you aren't already comfortable with zsh configs. If you do decide to try it, read all tips linked above and follow as many as you can. The default experience is decent but it's far cry from what you can achieve with a personally tailored config.

OMZ is slow, been using zinit since it came out because OMZ and antigen were so slow to start up. Recently I found zsh4humans [1] which benchmarks much better than any other solution, is portable, and has everything I need with sane configs.

1. https://github.com/romkatv/zsh4humans

If you are trying zsh4humans, make sure to read https://github.com/romkatv/zsh4humans/blob/master/tips.md and follows as many tips as possible.

If you want to try a different preconfigured shell environment, big names are Prezto and zsh4humans. Prezto, like OMZ, comes with a plugin manager built in; zsh4humans does not.

# with a bare directory, cd there and push it onto the directory stack setopt autocd autopushd # ls whenever we change directory autoload add-zsh-hook .cd.ls(){ ls } add-zsh-hook chpwd .cd.ls # bind Ctrl-O to pop the most recent directory and refresh the prompt # doesn't work with p10k, you'd need something like this: # https://github.com/romkatv/zsh4humans/blob/v5/fn/-z4h-cd-rotate .zle.popd(){ popd -q && zle reset-prompt } zle -N .zle.popd bindkey '^o' popd