Run dynamically compiled C# code at native speed... how?

Question

I have read several posts on SO about writing and compiling dynamic C# code. For example, this post. I understand it can be done several ways.

However, calling the code invoker is slow. I did a simple benchmark, and it's some 500 X slower than calling a native method.

What I want to be able to do is the equivalent of loading a DLL and calling one of its methods directly ("natively"), which will give the speed benefits I want.

What is the easiest way to go about this? Compile the dynamic code to a dll and then load it? Can it be done in memory?

EDIT

I don't care about compilation time. Only execution.

EDIT 2, 3

Here is the benchmark code I wrote:

    public static int Execute(int i) { return i * 2; }

    private void button30_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        CSharpCodeProvider foo = new CSharpCodeProvider();

        var res = foo.CompileAssemblyFromSource(
            new System.CodeDom.Compiler.CompilerParameters()
            {
                GenerateInMemory = true,
                CompilerOptions = @"/optimize",                    
            },
            @"public class FooClass { public static int Execute(int i) { return i * 2; }}"
        );

        var type = res.CompiledAssembly.GetType("FooClass");
        var obj = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
        var method = type.GetMethod("Execute");
        int i = 0, t1 = Environment.TickCount, t2;
        //var input = new object[] { 2 };

        //for (int j = 0; j < 10000000; j++)
        //{
        //    input[0] = j;
        //    var output = method.Invoke(obj, input);
        //    i = (int)output;
        //}

        //t2 = Environment.TickCount;

        //MessageBox.Show((t2 - t1).ToString() + Environment.NewLine + i.ToString());

        t1 = Environment.TickCount;

        for (int j = 0; j < 100000000; j++)
        {
            i = Execute(j);
        }

        t2 = Environment.TickCount;

        MessageBox.Show("Native: " + (t2 - t1).ToString() + Environment.NewLine + i.ToString());

        var func = (Func<int, int>) Delegate.CreateDelegate(typeof (Func<int, int>), method);

        t1 = Environment.TickCount;

        for (int j = 0; j < 100000000; j++)
        {
            i = func(j);
        }

        t2 = Environment.TickCount;

        MessageBox.Show("Dynamic delegate: " + (t2 - t1).ToString() + Environment.NewLine + i.ToString());

        Func<int, int> funcL = Execute;

        t1 = Environment.TickCount;

        for (int j = 0; j < 100000000; j++)
        {
            i = funcL(j);
        }

        t2 = Environment.TickCount;

        MessageBox.Show("Delegate: " + (t2 - t1).ToString() + Environment.NewLine + i.ToString());
    }

Answer 1

Yes, if you invoke via a MethodInfo or a non-specific Delegate, then it will indeed be slow. The trick is: don't do that. Various approaches:

• for individual methods, go via a basic but typed delegate, such as Action, or as a generic catch-all, Func<object[], object> - and use Delegate.CreateDelegate to create a typed delegate:

  Action doSomething = (Action)Delegate.CreateDelegate(typeof(Action), method);
  

  another variant of this is to use the Expression API (which has a .Compile() method), or DynamicMethod (which has CreateDelegate()). The key thing: you must get a typed delegate and invoke using typed invoke (not .DynamicInvoke).

• for more complex cases where you are generating whole types, consider implementing an interface you know about, i.e.

  IFoo foo = (IFoo)Activator.CreateInstance(...);
  

  again; after the initial cast (which is very cheap) you can just use static code:

  foo.Bar();
  

Do not use someDelegate.DynamicInvoke(...) or someMethod.Invoke(...) if you are after any kind of performance.

Answer 2

Besides Marc's advice you could improve speed by specifying the "optimize" compiler option:

var res = foo.CompileAssemblyFromSource(
        new System.CodeDom.Compiler.CompilerParameters()
        {
            GenerateInMemory = true,
            CompilerOptions = "/optimize"
        },

Answer 3

Thought it was worth showing how all potential options looked and their performance characteristics. Given the following helper classes and functions:

public void Test(Func<int> func)
{        
    var watch = new Stopwatch();
    watch.Start();
    for (var i = 0; i <= 1000000; i++)
    {
        var test = func();
    }
    Console.WriteLine(watch.ElapsedMilliseconds);
}

public class FooClass { public int Execute() { return 1;}}

Set up and execution:

using (Microsoft.CSharp.CSharpCodeProvider foo = 
       new Microsoft.CSharp.CSharpCodeProvider())
{
    var res = foo.CompileAssemblyFromSource(
        new System.CodeDom.Compiler.CompilerParameters() 
        {  
            GenerateInMemory = true 
        }, 
        "public class FooClass { public int Execute() { return 1;}}"
    );

    var real = new FooClass();
    Test(() => real.Execute());                   // benchmark, direct call

    var type = res.CompiledAssembly.GetType("FooClass");
    var obj = Activator.CreateInstance(type);    
    var method = type.GetMethod("Execute");
    var input = new object[] { };                
    Test(() => (int)method.Invoke(obj, input));   // reflection invoke  

    dynamic dyn = Activator.CreateInstance(type);  
    Test(() => dyn.Execute());                    // dynamic object invoke

    var action = (Func<int>)Delegate.CreateDelegate(typeof(Func<int>), null, method); 
    Test(() => action());                         // delegate
}

The results are:

8     // direct
771   // reflection invoke
41    // dynamic object invoke
7     // delegate

So in those cases where you can't use delegates (if you don't know enough?), you can try dynamic.