Platform Compatibility
Default language versions, toolchain installation, and per-language dependencies for poly-bench
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Default language versions, toolchain installation, and per-language dependencies for poly-bench
poly-bench uses pinned language versions to ensure consistent benchmark results across machines. This page explains the default versions, how poly-bench resolves toolchains when your system has a different version, where custom binaries are installed, and the dependencies required for each language.
poly-bench targets specific versions for each supported runtime. The table below lists the pinned versions used when poly-bench installs a toolchain.
| Language | Pinned Version | Minimum Compatible |
|---|---|---|
| Go | 1.24.0 | 1.21+ |
| TypeScript (Node.js) | 22.11.0 | 22.0+ |
| Rust | stable | 1.70+ |
| Python | 3.12.0 | 3.8+ |
| C# | .NET 8.0 | 8.0+ |
| Zig | 0.15.2 | 0.15.2+ |
| C | — | clang (manual install) |
If you already have a language installed and its version meets the minimum requirement, poly-bench will use your existing binary. No separate installation is performed. For example, if you have Go 1.22 or Node.js 22.x on your PATH, poly-bench proceeds with that.
When the language is missing or the installed version is below the minimum, poly-bench can install its own toolchain. This binary is used only by poly-bench and does not replace or conflict with your system installation. Your global go, node, python3, etc. remain unchanged.
During poly-bench init, you may be prompted to install a compatible version. If you accept, poly-bench downloads and installs the pinned version to a dedicated directory.
Custom toolchains are stored under a platform-specific base directory:
| Platform | Base path |
|---|---|
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/Polybench/ |
| Linux | ~/.local/share/polybench/ |
| Windows | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Polybench\ |
The full layout is:
<base>/toolchains/<lang>/<version>/<platform>/
For example, on macOS with Go 1.24.0:
~/Library/Application Support/Polybench/toolchains/go/1.24.0/darwin-arm64/go/bin/go
The binary for each language lives at a predictable path within that tree. poly-bench prefers this Polybench-managed installation over system PATH when resolving which binary to use.
Some runtimes require additional tools or packages on your system.
The C runtime uses vcpkg and CMake when you add external dependencies (e.g. poly-bench add --c openssl@3.2). You need:
vcpkg — Set VCPKG_ROOT or CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE to your vcpkg installation
CMake — 3.20+ on PATH
make — On some systems, CMake uses make as the default generator. If builds fail, ensure make is installed:
xcode-select --install or brew install makesudo apt install build-essentialWith no C dependencies, poly-bench compiles with clang directly and does not use CMake.
poly-bench creates a virtual environment (.venv) in .polybench/runtime-env/python/ using python -m venv .venv. All installs use the venv's pip, so dependencies stay isolated from your system Python.
On Debian/Ubuntu, the venv module may not be installed by default. Install it:
sudo apt install python3-venv
Without python3-venv, creating the virtual environment will fail.
go.mod and go get; no extra system dependencies.npm install; Node.js provides npm.dotnet; the .NET SDK includes everything needed.zig and build.zig; no extra system dependencies.