Boost C++ Service Performance 3×: Class vs Protobuf, Cache‑Friendly Structures, jemalloc, and Lock‑Free Design

1. Replace Protobuf with native C++ classes

Protobuf uses an arena allocator that creates many small heap objects, leading to memory fragmentation and slower destructor calls, especially for string fields. Re‑implementing the same message as a plain C++ class with explicit constructors, setters, and a Clear method removes the arena overhead.

class ParamHitInfo {
public:
    class Param {
    public:
        Param() = default;
        ~Param() = default;
        const std::string& name() const { return name_; }
        void set_name(const std::string& name) { name_ = name; }
        const std::string& value() const { return value_; }
        void set_value(const std::string& value) { value_ = value; }
        void clear_name() { name_.clear(); }
        void clear_value() { value_.clear(); }
        void Clear() { clear_name(); clear_value(); }
    private:
        std::string name_, value_;
    };
    // other fields omitted for brevity
};

A GoogleTest benchmark creates 1,000 ParamHit protobuf objects and 1,000 ParamHitInfo class objects, copies each 1,000 times, and measures execution time. The class version is roughly three times faster, confirming the claim.