Run-time Performance Comparison of Sparse-set and Archetype Entity-Component Systems
| dc.contributor.author | Cox, Louis | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Williams, Benjamin | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Vickers, James | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Ward, Davin | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Headleand, Christopher | en_US |
| dc.contributor.editor | Sheng, Yun | en_US |
| dc.contributor.editor | Slingsby, Aidan | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-09-09T05:13:07Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-09-09T05:13:07Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.description.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. | en_US |
| dc.description.sectionheaders | Games | |
| dc.description.seriesinformation | Computer Graphics and Visual Computing (CGVC) | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.2312/cgvc.20251224 | |
| dc.identifier.isbn | 978-3-03868-293-6 | |
| dc.identifier.pages | 9 pages | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.2312/cgvc.20251224 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://diglib.eg.org/handle/10.2312/cgvc20251224 | |
| dc.publisher | The Eurographics Association | en_US |
| dc.rights | Attribution 4.0 International License | |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | CCS Concepts: Applied computing → Computer games; General and reference → Performance; Computing methodologies → Realtime simulation; Computer graphics | |
| dc.subject | Applied computing → Computer games | |
| dc.subject | General and reference → Performance | |
| dc.subject | Computing methodologies → Realtime simulation | |
| dc.subject | Computer graphics | |
| dc.title | Run-time Performance Comparison of Sparse-set and Archetype Entity-Component Systems | en_US |