Quill is a high-performance asynchronous logging library. It is particularly suited for performance-critical applications where every microsecond counts.
- Performance-Focused: Quill consistently outperforms many popular logging libraries.
- Feature-Rich: Packed with advanced features to meet diverse logging needs.
- Battle-Tested: Proven in demanding production environments.
- Extensive Documentation: Comprehensive guides and examples available.
- Community-Driven: Open to contributions, feedback, and feature requests.
Try it on Compiler Explorer
Getting started is easy and straightforward. Follow these steps to integrate the library into your project:
You can install Quill using the package manager of your choice:
Package Manager | Installation Command |
---|---|
vcpkg | vcpkg install quill |
Conan | conan install quill |
Homebrew | brew install quill |
Meson WrapDB | meson wrap install quill |
Conda | conda install -c conda-forge quill |
Bzlmod | bazel_dep(name = "quill", version = "x.y.z") |
xmake | xrepo install quill |
nix | nix-shell -p quill-log |
Once installed, you can start using Quill with the following code:
#include "quill/Backend.h"
#include "quill/Frontend.h"
#include "quill/LogMacros.h"
#include "quill/Logger.h"
#include "quill/sinks/ConsoleSink.h"
#include <string_view>
int main()
{
quill::Backend::start();
quill::Logger* logger = quill::Frontend::create_or_get_logger(
"root", quill::Frontend::create_or_get_sink<quill::ConsoleSink>("sink_id_1"));
LOG_INFO(logger, "Hello from {}!", std::string_view{"Quill"});
}
- High-Performance: Ultra-low latency performance. View Benchmarks
- Asynchronous Processing: Background thread handles formatting and I/O, keeping your main thread responsive.
- Minimal Header Includes:
- Frontend: Only
Logger.h
andLogMacros.h
needed for logging. Lightweight with minimal dependencies. - Backend: Single
.cpp
file inclusion. No backend code injection into other translation units.
- Frontend: Only
- Compile-Time Optimization: Eliminate specific log levels at compile time.
- Custom Formatters: Define your own log output patterns. See Formatters.
- Timestamp-Ordered Logs: Simplify debugging of multithreaded applications with chronologically ordered logs.
- Flexible Timestamps: Support for
rdtsc
,chrono
, orcustom clocks
- ideal for simulations and more. - Backtrace Logging: Store messages in a ring buffer for on-demand display. See Backtrace Logging
- Multiple Output Sinks: Console (with color), files (with rotation), JSON, ability to create custom sinks and more.
- Log Filtering: Process only relevant messages. See Filters.
- JSON Logging: Structured log output. See JSON Logging
- Configurable Queue Modes:
bounded/unbounded
andblocking/dropping
options with monitoring on dropped messages, queue reallocations, and blocked hot threads. - Crash Handling: Built-in signal handler for log preservation during crashes.
- Huge Pages Support (Linux): Leverage huge pages on the hot path for optimized performance.
- Wide Character Support (Windows): Compatible with ASCII-encoded wide strings and STL containers consisting of wide strings.
- Exception-Free Option: Configurable builds with or without exception handling.
- Clean Codebase: Maintained to high standards, warning-free even at strict levels.
- Type-Safe API: Built on {fmt} library.
-
OS: Linux RHEL 9.4
-
CPU: Intel Core i5-12600 (12th Gen) @ 4.8 GHz
-
Compiler: GCC 13.1
-
Benchmark-Tuned System: The system is specifically tuned for benchmarking.
-
Command Line Parameters:
$ cat /proc/cmdline BOOT_IMAGE=(hd0,gpt2)/vmlinuz-5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4.x86_64 root=/dev/mapper/rhel-root ro crashkernel=1G-4G:192M,4G-64G:256M,64G-:512M resume=/dev/mapper/rhel-swap rd.lvm.lv=rhel/root rd.lvm.lv=rhel/swap rhgb quiet nohz=on nohz_full=1-5 rcu_nocbs=1-5 isolcpus=1-5 mitigations=off transparent_hugepage=never intel_pstate=disable nosoftlockup irqaffinity=0 processor.max_cstate=1 nosoftirqd sched_tick_offload=0 spec_store_bypass_disable=off spectre_v2=off iommu=pt
You can find the benchmark code on the logger_benchmarks repository.
The results presented in the tables below are measured in nanoseconds (ns)
.
The tables are sorted by the 95th percentile
LOG_INFO(logger, "Logging int: {}, int: {}, double: {}", i, j, d)
.
Library | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th | 99th | 99.9th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quill Bounded Dropping Queue | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 |
fmtlog | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 13 |
Quill Unbounded Queue | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 |
PlatformLab NanoLog | 13 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 25 |
MS BinLog | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 56 | 93 |
XTR | 7 | 7 | 29 | 30 | 33 | 53 |
Reckless | 26 | 28 | 31 | 32 | 35 | 49 |
BqLog | 29 | 29 | 30 | 49 | 56 | 71 |
Iyengar NanoLog | 83 | 96 | 117 | 125 | 152 | 197 |
spdlog | 143 | 147 | 152 | 158 | 165 | 177 |
g3log | 1161 | 1259 | 1329 | 1419 | 1602 | 1827 |
Library | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th | 99th | 99.9th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
fmtlog | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 13 |
Quill Bounded Dropping Queue | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 |
XTR | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 31 | 38 |
Quill Unbounded Queue | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
PlatformLab NanoLog | 15 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 27 | 32 |
MS BinLog | 21 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 62 | 100 |
Reckless | 19 | 23 | 26 | 28 | 34 | 55 |
BqLog | 31 | 33 | 34 | 55 | 61 | 73 |
Iyengar NanoLog | 58 | 90 | 123 | 131 | 168 | 242 |
spdlog | 210 | 243 | 288 | 313 | 382 | 694 |
g3log | 1271 | 1337 | 1396 | 1437 | 1614 | 1899 |
Logging std::string
over 35 characters to prevent the short string optimization.
LOG_INFO(logger, "Logging int: {}, int: {}, string: {}", i, j, large_string)
.
Library | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th | 99th | 99.9th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quill Bounded Dropping Queue | 11 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
fmtlog | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
Quill Unbounded Queue | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
MS BinLog | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 61 | 100 |
PlatformLab NanoLog | 15 | 17 | 21 | 27 | 33 | 39 |
XTR | 8 | 9 | 29 | 31 | 35 | 54 |
BqLog | 29 | 30 | 31 | 51 | 60 | 71 |
Reckless | 91 | 107 | 115 | 118 | 124 | 135 |
Iyengar NanoLog | 86 | 97 | 119 | 128 | 159 | 268 |
spdlog | 120 | 124 | 128 | 132 | 141 | 151 |
g3log | 881 | 956 | 1018 | 1089 | 1264 | 1494 |
Library | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th | 99th | 99.9th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XTR | 9 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 32 | 40 |
fmtlog | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 19 |
Quill Bounded Dropping Queue | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 19 |
Quill Unbounded Queue | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 21 |
MS BinLog | 23 | 25 | 27 | 28 | 65 | 105 |
PlatformLab NanoLog | 16 | 20 | 32 | 38 | 44 | 51 |
BqLog | 32 | 33 | 35 | 56 | 64 | 76 |
Reckless | 79 | 94 | 104 | 107 | 114 | 132 |
Iyengar NanoLog | 85 | 93 | 125 | 133 | 168 | 237 |
spdlog | 178 | 218 | 261 | 281 | 381 | 651 |
g3log | 992 | 1055 | 1121 | 1178 | 1360 | 1600 |
Logging std::vector<std::string>
containing 16 large strings, each ranging from 50 to 60 characters.
Note: some of the previous loggers do not support passing a std::vector
as an argument.
LOG_INFO(logger, "Logging int: {}, int: {}, vector: {}", i, j, v)
.
Library | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th | 99th | 99.9th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quill Bounded Dropping Queue | 48 | 50 | 53 | 55 | 58 | 62 |
Quill Unbounded Queue | 54 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 61 | 66 |
MS BinLog | 68 | 69 | 72 | 74 | 79 | 281 |
XTR | 284 | 294 | 340 | 346 | 356 | 575 |
fmtlog | 711 | 730 | 754 | 770 | 804 | 834 |
spdlog | 6191 | 6261 | 6330 | 6386 | 6633 | 7320 |
Library | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th | 99th | 99.9th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quill Bounded Dropping Queue | 50 | 52 | 54 | 56 | 60 | 82 |
MS BinLog | 70 | 72 | 75 | 79 | 88 | 286 |
Quill Unbounded Queue | 97 | 107 | 116 | 122 | 135 | 148 |
XTR | 512 | 711 | 761 | 791 | 865 | 945 |
fmtlog | 780 | 804 | 823 | 835 | 860 | 896 |
spdlog | 6469 | 6549 | 6641 | 6735 | 7631 | 9430 |
The benchmark methodology involves logging 20 messages in a loop, calculating and storing the average latency for those 20 messages, then waiting around ~2 milliseconds, and repeating this process for a specified number of iterations.
In the Quill Bounded Dropping
benchmarks, the dropping queue size is set to 262,144
bytes, which is double the
default size of 131,072
bytes.
Throughput is measured by calculating the maximum number of log messages the backend logging thread can write to a log file per second.
The tests were run on the same system used for the latency benchmarks.
Although Quillβs primary focus is not on maximizing throughput, it efficiently manages log messages across multiple threads. Benchmarking throughput of asynchronous logging libraries presents certain challenges. Some libraries may drop log messages, leading to smaller-than-expected log files, while others only provide asynchronous flushing, making it difficult to verify when the backend thread has fully processed all messages.
For comparison, we benchmark against other asynchronous logging libraries that offer guaranteed logging with a flush-and-wait mechanism.
Note that MS BinLog
writes log data to a binary file, which requires offline formatting with an additional
programβthis makes it an unfair comparison, but it is included for reference.
Similarly, BqLog (binary log)
uses the compressed binary log appender, and its log files are not human-readable unless
processed offline. However, it is included for reference. The other version of BqLog
is using a text appender and
produces human-readable log files.
In the same way, Platformlab Nanolog
also outputs binary logs and is expected to deliver high throughput. However, for
reasons unexplained, the benchmark runs significantly slower (10x longer) than the other libraries, so it is excluded
from the table.
Logging 4 million times the message "Iteration: {} int: {} double: {}"
Library | million msg/second | elapsed time |
---|---|---|
MS BinLog (binary log) | 63.80 | 62 ms |
BqLog (binary log) | 15.92 | 251 ms |
Quill | 5.70 | 701 ms |
BqLog | 4.93 | 811 ms |
spdlog | 3.54 | 1128 ms |
fmtlog | 2.90 | 1378 ms |
Reckless | 2.72 | 1471 ms |
XTR | 2.61 | 1534 ms |
Compile times are measured using clang 15
and for Release
build.
Below, you can find the additional headers that the library will include when you need to log, following the recommended_usage example
There is also a compile-time benchmark measuring the compilation time of 2000 auto-generated log statements with various arguments. You can find it here. It takes approximately 30 seconds to compile.
Quill excels in hot path latency benchmarks and supports high throughput, offering a rich set of features that outshines other logging libraries.
The human-readable log files facilitate easier debugging and analysis. While initially larger, they compress efficiently, with the size difference between human-readable and binary logs becoming minimal once zipped.
For example, for the same amount of messages:
ms_binlog_backend_total_time.blog (binary log): 177 MB
ms_binlog_backend_total_time.zip (zipped binary log): 35 MB
quill_backend_total_time.log (human-readable log): 448 MB
quill_backend_total_time.zip (zipped human-readable log): 47 MB
If Quill were not available, MS BinLog would be a strong alternative. It delivers great latency on the hot path and generates smaller binary log files. However, the binary logs necessitate offline processing with additional tools, which can be less convenient.
#include "quill/Backend.h"
#include "quill/Frontend.h"
#include "quill/LogMacros.h"
#include "quill/Logger.h"
#include "quill/sinks/ConsoleSink.h"
#include "quill/std/Array.h"
#include <string>
#include <utility>
int main()
{
// Backend
quill::BackendOptions backend_options;
quill::Backend::start(backend_options);
// Frontend
auto console_sink = quill::Frontend::create_or_get_sink<quill::ConsoleSink>("sink_id_1");
quill::Logger* logger = quill::Frontend::create_or_get_logger("root", std::move(console_sink));
// Change the LogLevel to print everything
logger->set_log_level(quill::LogLevel::TraceL3);
// A log message with number 123
int a = 123;
std::string l = "log";
LOG_INFO(logger, "A {} message with number {}", l, a);
// libfmt formatting language is supported 3.14e+00
double pi = 3.141592653589793;
LOG_INFO(logger, "libfmt formatting language is supported {:.2e}", pi);
// Logging STD types is supported [1, 2, 3]
std::array<int, 3> arr = {1, 2, 3};
LOG_INFO(logger, "Logging STD types is supported {}", arr);
// Logging STD types is supported [arr: [1, 2, 3]]
LOGV_INFO(logger, "Logging STD types is supported", arr);
// A message with two variables [a: 123, b: 3.17]
double b = 3.17;
LOGV_INFO(logger, "A message with two variables", a, b);
for (uint32_t i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
{
// Will only log the message once per second
LOG_INFO_LIMIT(std::chrono::seconds{1}, logger, "A {} message with number {}", l, a);
LOGV_INFO_LIMIT(std::chrono::seconds{1}, logger, "A message with two variables", a, b);
}
LOG_TRACE_L3(logger, "Support for floats {:03.2f}", 1.23456);
LOG_TRACE_L2(logger, "Positional arguments are {1} {0} ", "too", "supported");
LOG_TRACE_L1(logger, "{:>30}", std::string_view {"right aligned"});
LOG_DEBUG(logger, "Debugging foo {}", 1234);
LOG_INFO(logger, "Welcome to Quill!");
LOG_WARNING(logger, "A warning message.");
LOG_ERROR(logger, "An error message. error code {}", 123);
LOG_CRITICAL(logger, "A critical error.");
}
To get started with Quill, clone the repository and install it using CMake:
git clone http://github.com/odygrd/quill.git
mkdir cmake_build
cd cmake_build
cmake ..
make install
- Custom Installation: Specify a custom directory with
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/path/to/install/dir
. - Build Examples: Include examples with
-DQUILL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON
.
Next, add Quill to your project using find_package()
:
find_package(quill REQUIRED)
target_link_libraries(your_target PUBLIC quill::quill)
Organize your project directory like this:
my_project/
βββ CMakeLists.txt
βββ main.cpp
Hereβs a sample CMakeLists.txt
to get you started:
# If Quill is in a non-standard directory, specify its path.
set(CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH /path/to/quill)
# Find and link the Quill library.
find_package(quill REQUIRED)
add_executable(example main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(example PUBLIC quill::quill)
For a more integrated approach, embed Quill directly into your project:
my_project/
βββ quill/ # Quill repo folder
βββ CMakeLists.txt
βββ main.cpp
Use this CMakeLists.txt
to include Quill directly:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.1.0)
project(my_project)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
add_subdirectory(quill)
add_executable(my_project main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(my_project PUBLIC quill::quill)
Building Quill for Android? Add this flag during configuration:
-DQUILL_NO_THREAD_NAME_SUPPORT:BOOL=ON
Easily integrate Quill with Mesonβs wrapdb
:
meson wrap install quill
Copy the repository contents to your subprojects
directory and add the following to your meson.build
:
quill = subproject('quill')
quill_dep = quill.get_variable('quill_dep')
my_build_target = executable('name', 'main.cpp', dependencies : [quill_dep], install : true)
Quill is available on BLZMOD
for easy integration.
For manual setup, add Quill to your BUILD.bazel
file like this:
cc_binary(name = "app", srcs = ["main.cpp"], deps = ["//quill_path:quill"])
When invoking a LOG_
macro:
-
Creates a static constexpr metadata object to store
Metadata
such as the format string and source location. -
Pushes the data SPSC lock-free queue. For each log message, the following variables are pushed
Variable | Description |
---|---|
timestamp | Current timestamp |
Metadata* | Pointer to metadata information |
Logger* | Pointer to the logger instance |
DecodeFunc | A pointer to a templated function containing all the log message argument types, used for decoding the message |
Args... | A serialized binary copy of each log message argument that was passed to the LOG_ macro |
Consumes each message from the SPSC queue, retrieves all the necessary information and then formats the message. Subsequently, forwards the log message to all Sinks associated with the Logger.
Quill may not work well with fork()
since it spawns a background thread and fork()
doesn't work well with
multithreading.
If your application uses fork()
and you want to log in the child processes as well, you should call quill::start()
after the fork()
call. Additionally, you should ensure that you write to different files in the parent and child
processes to avoid conflicts.
For example :
#include "quill/Backend.h"
#include "quill/Frontend.h"
#include "quill/LogMacros.h"
#include "quill/Logger.h"
#include "quill/sinks/FileSink.h"
int main()
{
// DO NOT CALL THIS BEFORE FORK
// quill::Backend::start();
if (fork() == 0)
{
quill::Backend::start();
// Get or create a handler to the file - Write to a different file
auto file_sink = quill::Frontend::create_or_get_sink<quill::FileSink>(
"child.log");
quill::Logger* logger = quill::Frontend::create_or_get_logger("root", std::move(file_sink));
QUILL_LOG_INFO(logger, "Hello from Child {}", 123);
}
else
{
quill::Backend::start();
// Get or create a handler to the file - Write to a different file
auto file_sink = quill::Frontend::create_or_get_sink<quill::FileSink>(
"parent.log");
quill::Logger* logger = quill::Frontend::create_or_get_logger("root", std::move(file_sink));
QUILL_LOG_INFO(logger, "Hello from Parent {}", 123);
}
}
Quill is licensed under the MIT License
Quill depends on third party libraries with separate copyright notices and license terms. Your use of the source code for these subcomponents is subject to the terms and conditions of the following licenses.