Performance Boundaries

Batch Size

Estimate Calls

Batching turns many small operations into fewer grouped operations. A simple arithmetic estimate helps choose a batch size before running expensive commands.

Program

Play the script to choose the item count and see the estimated number of batches.

items
batch_size_plan.sh
Replay: real traced execution (multi-file project)
#!/usr/bin/env bash

items=9
batch_size=4
batches=$(((items + batch_size - 1) / batch_size))
echo "items=$items batch=$batch_size batches=$batches"

#!/usr/bin/env bash

items=12
batch_size=4
batches=$(((items + batch_size - 1) / batch_size))
echo "items=$items batch=$batch_size batches=$batches"

  1. items ← 9

    3items=94batch_size=4
    values this step9items

  2. batch_size ← 4

    3items=94batch_size=45batches=$(((items + batch_size - 1) / batch_size))
    values this step4batch_size

  3. batches ← 3

    4batch_size=45batches=$(((items + batch_size - 1) / batch_size))6echo "items=$items batch=$batch_size batches=$batches"
    values this step3batches9items4batch_size

  4. echo "items=$items batch=$batch_size batches=$batches"

    5batches=$(((items + batch_size - 1) / batch_size))6echo "items=$items batch=$batch_size batches=$batches"
    outputitems=9 batch=4 batches=3
    values this step9items4batch_size3batches

  1. items ← 12

    3items=124batch_size=4
    values this step12items

  2. batch_size ← 4

    3items=124batch_size=45batches=$(((items + batch_size - 1) / batch_size))
    values this step4batch_size

  3. batches ← 3

    4batch_size=45batches=$(((items + batch_size - 1) / batch_size))6echo "items=$items batch=$batch_size batches=$batches"
    values this step3batches12items4batch_size

  4. echo "items=$items batch=$batch_size batches=$batches"

    5batches=$(((items + batch_size - 1) / batch_size))6echo "items=$items batch=$batch_size batches=$batches"
    outputitems=12 batch=4 batches=3
    values this step12items4batch_size3batches
batch size A batch size controls how many items each grouped operation handles.
ceiling division Adding `batch_size - 1` before division rounds up partial batches.
call estimate Estimating calls helps reason about cost before running work.