C# performance - Using unsafe pointers instead of

Question

Question

I'm porting a C application into C#. The C app calls lots of functions from a 3rd-party DLL, so I wrote P/Invoke wrappers for these functions in C#. Some of these C functions allocate data which I have to use in the C# app, so I used IntPtr's, Marshal.PtrToStructure and Marshal.Copy to copy the native data (arrays and structures) into managed variables.

Unfortunately, the C# app proved to be much slower than the C version. A quick performance analysis showed that the above mentioned marshaling-based data copying is the bottleneck. I'm considering to speed up the C# code by rewriting it to use pointers instead. Since I don't have experience with unsafe code and pointers in C#, I need expert opinion regarding the following questions:

1. What are the drawbacks of using unsafe code and pointers instead of IntPtr and Marshaling? For example, is it more unsafe (pun intended) in any way? People seem to prefer marshaling, but I don't know why.
2. Is using pointers for P/Invoking really faster than using marshaling? How much speedup can be expected approximately? I couldn't find any benchmark tests for this.

Example code

To make the situation more clear, I hacked together a small example code (the real code is much more complex). I hope this example shows what I mean when I'm talking about "unsafe code and pointers" vs. "IntPtr and Marshal".

C library (DLL)

MyLib.h

#ifndef _MY_LIB_H_
#define _MY_LIB_H_

struct MyData 
{
  int length;
  unsigned char* bytes;
};

__declspec(dllexport) void CreateMyData(struct MyData** myData, int length);
__declspec(dllexport) void DestroyMyData(struct MyData* myData);

#endif // _MY_LIB_H_

MyLib.c

#include <stdlib.h>
#include "MyLib.h"

void CreateMyData(struct MyData** myData, int length)
{
  int i;

  *myData = (struct MyData*)malloc(sizeof(struct MyData));
  if (*myData != NULL)
  {
    (*myData)->length = length;
    (*myData)->bytes = (unsigned char*)malloc(length * sizeof(char));
    if ((*myData)->bytes != NULL)
      for (i = 0; i < length; ++i)
        (*myData)->bytes[i] = (unsigned char)(i % 256);
  }
}

void DestroyMyData(struct MyData* myData)
{
  if (myData != NULL)
  {
    if (myData->bytes != NULL)
      free(myData->bytes);
    free(myData);
  }
}

C application

Main.c

#include <stdio.h>
#include "MyLib.h"

void main()
{
  struct MyData* myData = NULL;
  int length = 100 * 1024 * 1024;

  printf("=== C++ test ===\n");
  CreateMyData(&myData, length);
  if (myData != NULL)
  {
    printf("Length: %d\n", myData->length);
    if (myData->bytes != NULL)
      printf("First: %d, last: %d\n", myData->bytes[0], myData->bytes[myData->length - 1]);
    else
      printf("myData->bytes is NULL");
  }
  else
    printf("myData is NULL\n");
  DestroyMyData(myData);
  getchar();
}

C# application, which uses IntPtr and Marshal

Program.cs

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class Program
{
  [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
  private struct MyData
  {
    public int Length;
    public IntPtr Bytes;
  }

  [DllImport("MyLib.dll")]
  private static extern void CreateMyData(out IntPtr myData, int length);

  [DllImport("MyLib.dll")]
  private static extern void DestroyMyData(IntPtr myData);

  public static void Main()
  {
    Console.WriteLine("=== C# test, using IntPtr and Marshal ===");
    int length = 100 * 1024 * 1024;
    IntPtr myData1;
    CreateMyData(out myData1, length);
    if (myData1 != IntPtr.Zero)
    {
      MyData myData2 = (MyData)Marshal.PtrToStructure(myData1, typeof(MyData));
      Console.WriteLine("Length: {0}", myData2.Length);
      if (myData2.Bytes != IntPtr.Zero)
      {
        byte[] bytes = new byte[myData2.Length];
        Marshal.Copy(myData2.Bytes, bytes, 0, myData2.Length);
        Console.WriteLine("First: {0}, last: {1}", bytes[0], bytes[myData2.Length - 1]);
      }
      else
        Console.WriteLine("myData.Bytes is IntPtr.Zero");
    }
    else
      Console.WriteLine("myData is IntPtr.Zero");
    DestroyMyData(myData1);
    Console.ReadKey(true);
  }
}

C# application, which uses unsafe code and pointers

Program.cs

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class Program
{
  [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
  private unsafe struct MyData
  {
    public int Length;
    public byte* Bytes;
  }

  [DllImport("MyLib.dll")]
  private unsafe static extern void CreateMyData(out MyData* myData, int length);

  [DllImport("MyLib.dll")]
  private unsafe static extern void DestroyMyData(MyData* myData);

  public unsafe static void Main()
  {
    Console.WriteLine("=== C# test, using unsafe code ===");
    int length = 100 * 1024 * 1024;
    MyData* myData;
    CreateMyData(out myData, length);
    if (myData != null)
    {
      Console.WriteLine("Length: {0}", myData->Length);
      if (myData->Bytes != null)
        Console.WriteLine("First: {0}, last: {1}", myData->Bytes[0], myData->Bytes[myData->Length - 1]);
      else
        Console.WriteLine("myData.Bytes is null");
    }
    else
      Console.WriteLine("myData is null");
    DestroyMyData(myData);
    Console.ReadKey(true);
  }
}

Answer 1

Because you stated that your code calls to 3rd-party DLL, I think the unsafe code is more suited in you scenario. You ran into a particular situation of wapping variable-length array in a struct; I know, I know this kind of usage occurs all the time, but it's not always the case after all. You might want to have a look of some questions about this, for example:

How do I marshal a struct that contains a variable-sized array to C#?

If .. I say if .. you can modify the third party libraries a bit for this particular case, then you might consider the following usage:

using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class Program { /*
    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
    private struct MyData {
        public int Length;
        public byte[] Bytes;
    } */

    [DllImport("MyLib.dll")]
    // __declspec(dllexport) void WINAPI CreateMyDataAlt(BYTE bytes[], int length);
    private static extern void CreateMyDataAlt(byte[] myData, ref int length);

    /* 
    [DllImport("MyLib.dll")]
    private static extern void DestroyMyData(byte[] myData); */

    public static void Main() {
        Console.WriteLine("=== C# test, using IntPtr and Marshal ===");
        int length = 100*1024*1024;
        var myData1 = new byte[length];
        CreateMyDataAlt(myData1, ref length);

        if(0!=length) {
            // MyData myData2 = (MyData)Marshal.PtrToStructure(myData1, typeof(MyData));

            Console.WriteLine("Length: {0}", length);

            /*
            if(myData2.Bytes!=IntPtr.Zero) {
                byte[] bytes = new byte[myData2.Length];
                Marshal.Copy(myData2.Bytes, bytes, 0, myData2.Length); */
            Console.WriteLine("First: {0}, last: {1}", myData1[0], myData1[length-1]); /*
            }
            else {
                Console.WriteLine("myData.Bytes is IntPtr.Zero");
            } */
        }
        else {
            Console.WriteLine("myData is empty");
        }

        // DestroyMyData(myData1);
        Console.ReadKey(true);
    }
}

As you can see much of your original marshalling code is commented out, and declared a CreateMyDataAlt(byte[], ref int) for a coresponding modified external unmanaged function CreateMyDataAlt(BYTE [], int). Some of the data copy and pointer check turns to be unnecessary, that says, the code can be even simpler and probably runs faster.

So, what's so different with the modification? The byte array is now marshalled directly without warpping in a struct and passed to the unmanaged side. You don't allocate the memory within the unmanaged code, rather, just filling data to it(implementation details omitted); and after the call, the data needed is provided to the managed side. If you want to present that the data is not filled and should not be used, you can simply set length to zero to tell the managed side. Because the byte array is allocated within the managed side, it'll be collected sometime, you don't have to take care of that.

Answer 2

Two answers,

1. Unsafe code means it is not managed by the CLR. You need to take care of resources it uses.

2. You cannot scale the performance because there are so many factors effecting it. But definitely using pointers will be much faster.

Answer 3

It's a little old thread, but I recently made excessive performance tests with marshaling in C#. I need to unmarshal lots of data from a serial port over many days. It was important to me to have no memory leaks (because the smallest leak will get significant after a couple of million calls) and I also made a lot of statistical performance (time used) tests with very big structs (>10kb) just for the sake of it (an no, you should never have a 10kb struct :-) )

I tested the following three unmarshalling strategies (I also tested the marshalling). In nearly all cases the first one (MarshalMatters) outperformed the other two. Marshal.Copy was always slowest by far, the other two were mostly very close together in the race.

Using unsafe code can pose a significant security risk.

First:

public class MarshalMatters
{
    public static T ReadUsingMarshalUnsafe<T>(byte[] data) where T : struct
    {
        unsafe
        {
            fixed (byte* p = &data[0])
            {
                return (T)Marshal.PtrToStructure(new IntPtr(p), typeof(T));
            }
        }
    }

    public unsafe static byte[] WriteUsingMarshalUnsafe<selectedT>(selectedT structure) where selectedT : struct
    {
        byte[] byteArray = new byte[Marshal.SizeOf(structure)];
        fixed (byte* byteArrayPtr = byteArray)
        {
            Marshal.StructureToPtr(structure, (IntPtr)byteArrayPtr, true);
        }
        return byteArray;
    }
}

Second:

public class Adam_Robinson
{

    private static T BytesToStruct<T>(byte[] rawData) where T : struct
    {
        T result = default(T);
        GCHandle handle = GCHandle.Alloc(rawData, GCHandleType.Pinned);
        try
        {
            IntPtr rawDataPtr = handle.AddrOfPinnedObject();
            result = (T)Marshal.PtrToStructure(rawDataPtr, typeof(T));
        }
        finally
        {
            handle.Free();
        }
        return result;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// no Copy. no unsafe. Gets a GCHandle to the memory via Alloc
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="selectedT"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="structure"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static byte[] StructToBytes<T>(T structure) where T : struct
    {
        int size = Marshal.SizeOf(structure);
        byte[] rawData = new byte[size];
        GCHandle handle = GCHandle.Alloc(rawData, GCHandleType.Pinned);
        try
        {
            IntPtr rawDataPtr = handle.AddrOfPinnedObject();
            Marshal.StructureToPtr(structure, rawDataPtr, false);
        }
        finally
        {
            handle.Free();
        }
        return rawData;
    }
}

Third:

/// <summary>
/// http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2623761/marshal-ptrtostructure-and-back-again-and-generic-solution-for-endianness-swap
/// </summary>
public class DanB
{
    /// <summary>
    /// uses Marshal.Copy! Not run in unsafe. Uses AllocHGlobal to get new memory and copies.
    /// </summary>
    public static byte[] GetBytes<T>(T structure) where T : struct
    {
        var size = Marshal.SizeOf(structure); //or Marshal.SizeOf<selectedT>(); in .net 4.5.1
        byte[] rawData = new byte[size];
        IntPtr ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(size);

        Marshal.StructureToPtr(structure, ptr, true);
        Marshal.Copy(ptr, rawData, 0, size);
        Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptr);
        return rawData;
    }

    public static T FromBytes<T>(byte[] bytes) where T : struct
    {
        var structure = new T();
        int size = Marshal.SizeOf(structure);  //or Marshal.SizeOf<selectedT>(); in .net 4.5.1
        IntPtr ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(size);

        Marshal.Copy(bytes, 0, ptr, size);

        structure = (T)Marshal.PtrToStructure(ptr, structure.GetType());
        Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptr);

        return structure;
    }
}

Answer 4

Just wanted to add my experience to this old thread: We used Marshaling in sound recording software - we received real time sound data from mixer into native buffers and marshaled it to byte[]. That was real performance killer. We were forced to move to unsafe structs as the only way to complete the task.

In case you don't have large native structs and don't mind that all data is filled twice - Marshaling is more elegant and much, much safer approach.

Answer 5

For anyone still reading,

Something I don't think I saw in any of the answers, - unsafe code does present something of a security risk. It's not a huge risk, it would be something quite challenging to exploit. However, if like me you work in a PCI compliant organization, unsafe code is disallowed by policy for this reason.

Managed code is normally very secure because the CLR takes care of memory location and allocation, preventing you from accessing or writing any memory you're not supposed to.

When you use the unsafe keyword and compile with '/unsafe' and use pointers, you bypass these checks and create the potential for someone to use your application to gain some level of unauthorized access to the machine it is running on. Using something like a buffer-overrun attack, your code could be tricked into writing instructions into an area of memory that might then be accessed by the program counter (i.e. code injection), or just crash the machine.

Many years ago, SQL server actually fell prey to malicious code delivered in a TDS packet that was far longer than it was supposed to be. The method reading the packet didn't check the length and continued to write the contents past the reserved address space. The extra length and content were carefully crafted such that it wrote an entire program into memory - at the address of the next method. The attacker then had their own code being executed by the SQL server within a context that had the highest level of access. It didn't even need to break the encryption as the vulnerability was below this point in the transport layer stack.

Answer 6

Considerations in Interoperability explains why and when Marshaling is required and at what cost. Quote:

1. Marshaling occurs when a caller and a callee cannot operate on the same instance of data.
2. repeated marshaling can negatively affect the performance of your application.

Therefore, answering your question if

... using pointers for P/Invoking really faster than using marshaling ...

first ask yourself a question if the managed code is able to operate on the unmanaged method return value instance. If the answer is yes then Marshaling and the associated performance cost is not required. The approximate time saving would be O(n) function where n of the size of the marshalled instance. In addition, not keeping both managed and unmanaged blocks of data in memory at the same time for the duration of the method (in "IntPtr and Marshal" example) eliminates additional overhead and the memory pressure.

What are the drawbacks of using unsafe code and pointers ...

The drawback is the risk associated with accessing the memory directly through pointers. There is nothing less safe to it than using pointers in C or C++. Use it if needed and makes sense. More details are here.

There is one "safety" concern with the presented examples: releasing of allocated unmanaged memory is not guaranteed after the managed code errors. The best practice is to

CreateMyData(out myData1, length);

if(myData1!=IntPtr.Zero) {
    try {
        // -> use myData1
        ...
        // <-
    }
    finally {
        DestroyMyData(myData1);
    }
}