Run-time Performance Comparison of Sparse-set and Archetype Entity-Component Systems
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Date
2025
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Eurographics Association
Abstract
Entity-Component System (ECS) architectures have emerged as a powerful alternative to traditional object-oriented solutions in video games and real-time simulations. However, different ECS implementations present distinct trade-offs between iteration speed and modification costs. Despite its growing adoption, a comparative analysis on the performance characteristics of ECS implementation types has yet to be conducted. This study compares the performance of two widely-used ECS implementations: sparse-set and archetype-based. To facilitate this, an implementation of each architecture was developed in C++20 and their performance was examined in terms of iteration speed and entity modification costs. The results show sparse-set ECSes enable cheaper entity modifications but scale poorly during iteration, while archetypes excel at large-scale iteration through cache efficiency but incur higher composition change costs. These findings provide valuable and actionable guidance for developers selecting ECS architectures for their specific applications.
Description
CCS Concepts: Applied computing → Computer games; General and reference → Performance; Computing methodologies → Realtime simulation; Computer graphics
@inproceedings{10.2312:cgvc.20251224,
booktitle = {Computer Graphics and Visual Computing (CGVC)},
editor = {Sheng, Yun and Slingsby, Aidan},
title = {{Run-time Performance Comparison of Sparse-set and Archetype Entity-Component Systems}},
author = {Cox, Louis and Williams, Benjamin and Vickers, James and Ward, Davin and Headleand, Christopher},
year = {2025},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association},
ISBN = {978-3-03868-293-6},
DOI = {10.2312/cgvc.20251224}
}