Blog

The BenchBox blog features benchmarking insights, performance analysis, and updates about the project.

Recent Posts

• May 18, 2026 - Splitting approximate analytics across BenchBox read and write benchmarks

  Approximate aggregates answer one query over raw rows. Sketches store compact summary state that can be merged and queried later. BenchBox now tests those workloads separately.

• May 18, 2026 - Reworking JoinOrder around the IMDb 2013 dataset

  The Join Order Benchmark evaluates query optimizers against the skewed, correlated distributions in the IMDb 2013 dataset. BenchBox v0.3.0 updates joinorder so its data contract reflects that benchmark target.

• May 18, 2026 - BenchBox v0.3.0: JoinOrder fix, approximate analytics, and agent prompt composer

  TL;DR: The new /prompts/ page composes benchmarking instructions for coding agents. joinorder now uses the real IMDb 2013 Join Order Benchmark dataset at scale factor 1, replacing synthetic data. BenchBox also expands approximate-aggregate and sketch-lifecycle coverage in the primitives benchmarks.

• April 26, 2026 - One SF, one gigabyte: harmonizing scale factors across BenchBox

  Before v0.2.1, --scale 1 could mean 96 MB or 6 GB depending on which benchmark you ran.

• April 26, 2026 - BenchBox v0.2.1: 6 platforms, harmonized scale factors

  v0.2.1 is an expansion release: Six new platform adapters. Two new benchmarks.

• April 01, 2026 - BenchBox v0.2.0: Alpha to Beta

  BenchBox v0.2.0 moves the project to Beta by pairing a higher release-quality bar with broader cloud-platform hardening.

• March 10, 2026 - Extracting textcharts from BenchBox exposed hidden coupling

  When we pulled BenchBox’s ASCII charts into textcharts, one lazy import and a benchmark-shaped API turned out to be the hard part.

• March 10, 2026 - BenchBox v0.1.5: release summary

  BenchBox v0.1.5 was released on March 10, 2026.

• March 03, 2026 - DuckDB tpch Extension vs BenchBox TPC-H

  Same benchmark name, different contract: fast in-engine checks vs full benchmark workflow control.

• March 03, 2026 - BenchBox v0.1.4: release summary

  BenchBox v0.1.4 was released on March 3, 2026.

• February 23, 2026 - BenchBox v0.1.3: release summary

  BenchBox v0.1.3 was released on February 23, 2026.

• February 15, 2026 - Why we deleted Plotly and wrote our own ASCII charts

  Benchmark charts should arrive where you’re already working, not in a file you have to go find.

• February 15, 2026 - BenchBox v0.1.2: release summary

  BenchBox v0.1.2 was released on February 14, 2026.

• January 22, 2026 - Welcome to the BenchBox Blog

  Your source for benchmarking insights, methodology deep dives, and honest performance analysis.

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