🔐 Cipher Benchmark Suite

A comprehensive performance benchmarking suite comparing encryption algorithms across Go and Java implementations.

📊 Overview

This project benchmarks the performance of three major encryption algorithms implemented in both Go and Java:

• AES-256-GCM (Authenticated Encryption)
• AES-256-CBC (Block Cipher with PKCS#7 padding)
• PGP (RSA-4096 + AES-256 hybrid encryption)

🎯 Key Findings

Algorithm	Language	1KB Throughput	5MB Throughput	Best Use Case
AES-256-GCM	Go	358,038 ops/sec	373 ops/sec	High-frequency APIs
AES-256-GCM	Java	10,162 ops/sec	163 ops/sec	Enterprise systems
AES-256-CBC	Go	155,860 ops/sec	86 ops/sec	Legacy compatibility
AES-256-CBC	Java	42,895 ops/sec	110 ops/sec	Large file processing
PGP	Go	168 ops/sec	4 ops/sec	Key exchange
PGP	Java	134 ops/sec	8 ops/sec	Email encryption

🏆 Winner: Go + AES-256-GCM for high-performance applications (up to 35x faster than Java)

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Go 1.24+
• Java 11+
• Maven 3.6+

Clone and Run

git clone https://github.com/harshitsidhwa/cipher-bench.git
cd cipher-bench

# Run Go benchmarks
cd go-benchmarks
go run .

# Run Java benchmarks  
cd ../java-benchmarks
mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="com.benchmark.SimpleBenchmarkRunner"

📁 Project Structure

cipher-bench/
├── 📊 ENCRYPTION_PERFORMANCE_REPORT.md   # Comprehensive analysis report
├── 🐹 go-benchmarks/                     # Go implementation
│   ├── main.go                           # Benchmark runner
│   ├── aes_gcm.go                        # AES-GCM implementation  
│   ├── aes_cbc.go                        # AES-CBC implementation
│   ├── pgp.go                            # PGP implementation
│   ├── utils.go                          # Utility functions
│   └── benchmark_results.json            # Go results
├── ☕ java-benchmarks/                    # Java implementation
│   ├── pom.xml                           # Maven configuration
│   ├── src/main/java/com/benchmark/
│   │   ├── SimpleBenchmarkRunner.java    # Main benchmark runner
│   │   ├── AESGCMBenchmark.java         # JMH AES-GCM benchmarks
│   │   ├── AESCBCBenchmark.java         # JMH AES-CBC benchmarks
│   │   ├── SimplePGPBenchmark.java      # PGP implementation
│   │   └── PGPTest.java                 # PGP validation test
│   └── java_benchmark_results.json      # Java results
└── 📝 README.md                         # This file

🔧 Implementation Details

Go Implementation

• Libraries: Standard crypto/* + golang.org/x/crypto/openpgp
• Strengths: Native crypto optimizations, excellent small payload performance
• Best for: Microservices, APIs, real-time processing

Java Implementation

• Libraries: javax.crypto + Bouncy Castle for PGP
• Strengths: Enterprise ecosystem, competitive large payload performance
• Best for: Enterprise applications, complex cryptographic workflows

📈 Benchmark Results

Performance by Payload Size

Payload Size	Go AES-GCM	Java AES-GCM	Go Advantage
1 KB	358,038 ops/sec	10,162 ops/sec	35.2x faster
10 KB	197,550 ops/sec	13,899 ops/sec	14.2x faster
50 KB	41,729 ops/sec	22,530 ops/sec	1.9x faster
100 KB	15,124 ops/sec	11,420 ops/sec	1.3x faster
200 KB	10,370 ops/sec	7,165 ops/sec	1.4x faster
5 MB	373 ops/sec	163 ops/sec	2.3x faster

📊 Visualization Data

Chart-ready CSV data is available in the comprehensive report.

🎯 Use Case Recommendations

🚀 High-Performance Applications

Choose: Go + AES-256-GCM

• Microservices and APIs
• Real-time data processing
• IoT and edge computing
• Systems programming

🏢 Enterprise Applications

Choose: Java + AES-256-GCM/CBC

• Large file processing
• Existing Java infrastructure
• Complex integration requirements
• Rich cryptographic workflows

🔐 Public Key Infrastructure

Choose: Either Language + PGP

• Email encryption
• Document signing
• Key exchange protocols
• Certificate management

🔬 Running Custom Benchmarks

Go Benchmarks

cd go-benchmarks

# Standard benchmarks
go run .

# Custom payload sizes (modify PayloadSizes in main.go)
# Custom iteration counts (modify iterations in benchmark functions)

# Build optimized binary
go build -o cipher-bench .
./cipher-bench

Java Benchmarks

cd java-benchmarks

# Run all benchmarks
mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="com.benchmark.SimpleBenchmarkRunner"

# Test PGP implementation
mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="com.benchmark.PGPTest"

# Build JAR (note: signature issues with shaded JAR)
mvn clean package

JMH Benchmarks (Advanced)

cd java-benchmarks

# Individual algorithm benchmarks using JMH directly
mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="com.benchmark.AESGCMBenchmark"
mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="com.benchmark.AESCBCBenchmark"

📋 Payload Sizes Tested

• 1 KB (1,024 bytes) - Small API responses
• 10 KB (10,240 bytes) - Medium documents
• 50 KB (51,200 bytes) - Large documents
• 100 KB (102,400 bytes) - Small files
• 200 KB (204,800 bytes) - Medium files
• 5 MB (5,242,880 bytes) - Large files

🔍 Security Considerations

Cryptographic Standards

• AES-256: NIST-approved, quantum-resistant
• GCM Mode: Authenticated encryption (AEAD)
• CBC Mode: Industry standard with PKCS#7 padding
• RSA-4096: Strong asymmetric encryption
• PGP: OpenPGP standard compliance

Key Management

• Cryptographically secure random key generation
• Keys generated outside benchmark loops
• No key reuse across different payload sizes
• Proper IV/nonce generation for each operation

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Contributing Guidelines before submitting pull requests.

Areas for Contribution

• Additional encryption algorithms (ChaCha20-Poly1305, XSalsa20, etc.)
• More language implementations (Rust, Python, C++)
• Performance optimizations
• Additional payload size testing
• Platform-specific benchmarks (ARM, x86, cloud environments)

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

📚 Further Reading

• 📊 Complete Performance Report - Detailed analysis and recommendations
• 🔐 Go Crypto Package Documentation
• ☕ Java Cryptography Architecture
• 🔒 Bouncy Castle Documentation

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📊 Quick Performance Summary

🏆 WINNER: Go + AES-256-GCM
📈 Performance: Up to 35x faster than Java
🎯 Best for: High-frequency encryption, APIs, microservices
⚡ Throughput: 358,038 operations/second (1KB payloads)

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