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Benchmarking requestAction

Written by Mark on February 27, 2009 •
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Now there has been a lot of discussion in the past few months about requestAction() and how it can very easily create a negative impact on your application. In fact I even wrote such an article myself. However, its high time that someone did the number crunching to really see if requestAction() is actually as slow as we all seem to think it is. So onto the testing method and the results.

Testing method

To test this theory I used a small CakePHP application and the SVN head (revision 8064) of CakePHP. I used a simple sample application with 2 controllers and 2 models. My model method directly returned the results without touching the database, so that database retrieval time and model processing would not be a factor in these tests. As I was only interested in the performance implications inherent in requestAction() itself, I wanted to remove the variance created by connecting to a database. I set debug = 0, and used basic file caching. After warming up the cake core caches, I tested 4 different controller actions.

Using Relations / ClassRegistry::init() - The method I originally proposed, and often touted as the 'best' solution to requestAction()
Using RequestAction with a string URL
Using RequestAction with and Array URL
Using a cached RequestAction - This more accurately simulates how we use requestAction at CakeDC.

Benchmarks were generated with Siege I used 10 concurrent users with 110 reps each. My local development web-server is running Apache 2.2/PHP 5.2.6 o n a 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo iMac with 2GB of ram. I ran each test 3 times and took the best result of each.

Using model relations / ClassRegistry::init()

First up was my originally proposed solution of using model relations to access the correct information. I used the following command and got the following results.

siege -b http://localhost/benchmark/posts/using_relations

Transactions:		        1100 hits
Availability:		      100.00 %
Elapsed time:		       63.21 secs
Data transferred:	        1.50 MB
Response time:		        0.55 secs
Transaction rate:	       17.40 trans/sec
Throughput:		        0.02 MB/sec
Concurrency:		        9.60
Successful transactions:        1100
Failed transactions:	           0
Longest transaction:	        1.76
Shortest transaction:	        0.10

Using RequestAction with a string URL

Up next was using request action with a string url. String URL's are often the slower way to perform a requestAction as parsing the URL string is one of the more expensive operations in request dispatching. I used the following command and the best results were.

siege -b http://localhost/benchmark/posts/using_requestaction

Transactions:		        1100 hits
Availability:		      100.00 %
Elapsed time:		       64.60 secs
Data transferred:	        1.51 MB
Response time:		        0.57 secs
Transaction rate:	       17.03 trans/sec
Throughput:		        0.02 MB/sec
Concurrency:		        9.72
Successful transactions:        1100
Failed transactions:	           0
Longest transaction:	        1.76
Shortest transaction:	        0.11

RequestAction with an Array URL

Up next is requestAction() witn an array url. Using an array URL is supposed to expedite the dispatching process as it bypasses much of the parameter parsing done by Router. This theory turned out to be true, as Array URL's clocked in marginally faster than their string counterparts.

siege -b http://localhost/benchmark/posts/using_requestaction_array

Transactions:		        1100 hits
Availability:		      100.00 %
Elapsed time:		       64.08 secs
Data transferred:	        1.53 MB
Response time:		        0.57 secs
Transaction rate:	       17.17 trans/sec
Throughput:		        0.02 MB/sec
Concurrency:		        9.78
Successful transactions:        1100
Failed transactions:	           0
Longest transaction:	        1.66
Shortest transaction:	        0.11

RequestAction using Array URL's and Caching

In my mind this was going to be the most performant requestAction option, due to the cached nature. The results were as expected with this method clocking to be only slightly behind the relation call. It is important to note as well, that this test does not reflect the time savings earned from not having to make an additional query/ round of result parsing. In a real world situation, the savings of using a cached element would be magnified by the cost of the query.

siege -b http://localhost/benchmark/posts/using_cached_requestaction

Transactions:		        1100 hits
Availability:		      100.00 %
Elapsed time:		       63.60 secs
Data transferred:	        1.52 MB
Response time:		        0.56 secs
Transaction rate:	       17.30 trans/sec
Throughput:		        0.02 MB/sec
Concurrency:		        9.62
Successful transactions:        1100
Failed transactions:	           0
Longest transaction:	        1.77
Shortest transaction:	        0.09

Results Summary

In case you quickly scanned through the full results here is a summary of what happened.

Method	Requests per second (mean)	Total time taken (seconds)
Using relations/ClassRegistry::init()	17.40	63.21
Using requestAction and string urls	17.03	64.60
Using requestAction and array urls	17.17	64.08
Using cached requestaction	17.30	63.60

In closing requestAction() can be slower than a direct method call. There are some benefits to using requestAction though.

You have the opportunity to reduce the number of repeated lines of code by putting the requestAction inside the element. In doing so, you create an encapsulated element, that can be included anywhere without having to worry about having the correct method calls in your controller.
You can more easily cache the element. By using requestAction in conjunction with element caching you have an easy to use, simple to implement caching. Getting the same results with model method calls in your controller requires additional caching logic in your models.
The potential for increased performance. As we saw in the benchmarks above, a cached element performed almost as fast as the direct method call. This margin will grow when a database query is added into the mix.

Now am I retracting my previous stance on requestAction? No, I still feel that there are many situations where requestAction is the incorrect solution and signals poor application design. However, when the need arises it is good to know that requestAction can be as fast or faster than other approaches when implemented properly.

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Polymorphic Relationships in CakePHP: A Beginner's Guide

Have you ever wondered how to make one database table relate to multiple other tables? Imagine a comments table that needs to store comments for both articles and videos. How do you manage that without creating separate tables or complicated joins? The answer is a polymorphic relationship. It sounds fancy, but the idea is simple and super powerful.

What's a Polymorphic Relationship?

Think of it this way: instead of a single foreign key pointing to one specific table, a polymorphic relationship uses two columns to define the connection. Let's stick with our comments example. To link a comment to either an article or a video, your comments table would have these two special columns:

foreign_id: This holds the ID of the related record (e.g., the id of an article or the id of a video).
model_name: This stores the name of the model the comment belongs to (e.g., 'Articles' or 'Videos').

This flexible setup allows a single comment record to "morph" its relationship, pointing to different types of parent models. It's clean, efficient, and saves you from a lot of redundant code. It's not necessary for them to be called "foreign_id" and "model_name"; they could have other names (table, model, reference_key, model_id, etc.) as long as you maintain the intended function of each. Now, let's see how you can set this up in CakePHP 5 without breaking a sweat.

Making It Work in CakePHP 5

While some frameworks have built-in support for polymorphic relationships, CakePHP lets you create them just as easily using its powerful ORM (Object-Relational Mapper) associations. We'll use the conditions key to define the polymorphic link.

Step 1: Set Up Your Database

We'll use a simple schema with three tables: articles, videos, and comments.

-- articles table
CREATE TABLE articles (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    title VARCHAR(255)
);

-- videos table
CREATE TABLE videos (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    title VARCHAR(255)
);

-- comments table
CREATE TABLE comments (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    content TEXT,
    foreign_id INT NOT NULL,
    model_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL
);

Notice how the comments table has our special foreign_id and model_name columns.

Step 2: Configure Your Models in CakePHP

Now for the magic! We'll define the associations in our Table classes. ArticlesTable.php In this file, you'll tell the Articles model that it has many Comments, but with a specific condition.

// src/Model/Table/ArticlesTable.php

namespace App\Model\Table;

use Cake\ORM\Table;

class ArticlesTable extends Table
{
    public function initialize(array $config): void
    {
        // ...
        $this->hasMany('Comments', [
            'foreignKey' => 'foreign_id',
            'conditions' => ['Comments.model_name' => self::class], // or 'Articles'
            'dependent' => true, // Deletes comments if an article is deleted
        ]);
    }
}

Use self::class is a best practice in modern PHP, as it prevents bugs if you ever decide to rename your classes, and your IDE can auto-complete and check it for you VideosTable.php You'll do the same thing for the Videos model, but change the model_name condition.

// src/Model/Table/VideosTable.php

namespace App\Model\Table;

use Cake\ORM\Table;

class VideosTable extends Table
{
    public function initialize(array $config): void
    {
        // ...
        $this->hasMany('Comments', [
            'foreignKey' => 'foreign_id',
            'conditions' => ['Comments.model_name' => self::class], // or 'Videos'
            'dependent' => true,
        ]);
    }
}

CommentsTable.php This table is the owner of the polymorphic association. You can add associations here to easily access the related Article or Video from a Comment entity.

// src/Model/Table/CommentsTable.php

namespace App\Model\Table;

use Cake\ORM\Table;

class CommentsTable extends Table
{
    public function initialize(array $config): void
    {
        // ...
        $this->belongsTo('Articles', [
            'foreignKey' => 'foreign_id',
            'conditions' => ['Comments.model_name' => \App\Model\Table\ArticlesTable::class], // or 'Articles'
        ]);

        $this->belongsTo('Videos', [
            'foreignKey' => 'foreign_id',
            'conditions' => ['Comments.model_name' => \App\Model\Table\VideosTable::class], // or 'Videos'
        ]);
    }
}

Step 3: Using the Relationship

Now that everything is set up, you can fetch data as if it were a normal association. Fetching Comments for an Article:

$article = $this->Articles->get(1, ['contain' => 'Comments']);

// $article->comments will contain a list of comments for that article

Creating a new Comment for a Video:

$video = $this->Videos->get(2);
$comment = $this->Comments->newEmptyEntity();

$comment->content = 'This is an awesome video!';
$comment->foreign_id = $video->id;
$comment->model_name = \App\Model\Table\VideosTable::class; // or 'Videos'

$this->Comments->save($comment);

As you can see, the model_name and foreign_id fields are the secret sauce that makes this pattern work.

What About the Future? The Power of This Solution

Now that you've got comments working for both articles and videos, what if your app grows and you want to add comments to a new model, like Photos? With this polymorphic setup, the change is incredibly simple. You don't need to alter your comments table at all. All you have to do is: Create your photos table in the database. Add a new PhotosTable.php model. In the new PhotosTable's initialize() method, add the hasMany association, just like you did for Articles and Videos.

// src/Model/Table/PhotosTable.php

namespace App\Model\Table;

use Cake\ORM\Table;

class PhotosTable extends Table
{
    public function initialize(array $config): void
    {
        // ...
        $this->hasMany('Comments', [
            'foreignKey' => 'foreign_id',
            'conditions' => ['Comments.model_name' => self::class],
            'dependent' => true,
        ]);
    }
}

That's it! You've just extended your application's functionality with minimal effort. This demonstrates the true power of polymorphic relationships: a single, scalable solution that can easily adapt to your application's evolving needs. It's a key pattern for building flexible and maintainable software.

Conclusion

This approach is flexible, scalable, and a great way to keep your database schema simple. Now that you know the basics, you can start applying this pattern to more complex problems in your own CakePHP applications!

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