Performance

Stringy is designed for efficient analysis of binary files, from small executables to large system libraries.

How It Works

Stringy memory-maps input files via mmap-guard for zero-copy access, then processes sections in weight-priority order. Regex patterns for semantic classification are compiled once using LazyLock statics.

The processing pipeline is single-threaded and sequential:

1. Format detection and section analysis – O(n) where n = number of sections
2. String extraction – O(m) where m = total section size
3. Deduplication – hash-based grouping of identical strings
4. Classification – O(k) where k = number of unique strings
5. Ranking and sorting – O(k log k)

Reducing Processing Time

Use CLI flags to narrow the work Stringy does:

# Limit to top results (skip sorting the long tail)
stringy --top 50 binary

# Increase minimum length to reduce noise and string count
stringy --min-len 8 binary

# Restrict to a single encoding (skip UTF-16 detection)
stringy --enc ascii binary

# Skip classification and ranking entirely
stringy --raw binary

--raw mode is the fastest option – it extracts and deduplicates strings without running the classifier or ranker.

Benchmarking

Stringy includes Criterion benchmarks for core components:

# Run all benchmarks
just bench

# Run a specific benchmark
cargo bench --bench elf
cargo bench --bench pe
cargo bench --bench classification
cargo bench --bench ascii_extraction

Profiling

# CPU profiling with perf (Linux)
perf record --call-graph dwarf -- stringy large_file.exe
perf report

# macOS profiling with Instruments
xcrun xctrace record --template "Time Profiler" --launch -- stringy binary

# Memory profiling
/usr/bin/time -l stringy large_file.exe   # macOS
/usr/bin/time -v stringy large_file.exe   # Linux

Batch Processing

Stringy processes one file per invocation. For batch workflows, use standard Unix tools:

# Process multiple files
find /path/to/binaries -type f -exec stringy --json {} \; > all_strings.jsonl

# Parallel processing with xargs
find /binaries -name "*.exe" -print0 | xargs -0 -P 4 -I {} stringy --json {} > results.jsonl