Update for benchmarking

development/graph/lifted_multicut/evaluate_solvers.py

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import argparse
+import sys
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from statistics import mean
 from time import perf_counter
@@ -159,6 +160,22 @@ def format_float(value: float) -> str:
     return f"{value:.6g}"
 
 
+def print_progress(row: dict) -> None:
+    print(
+        (
+            f"[done] {row['problem']} / {row['solver']}: "
+            f"bic_energy={format_float(row['bic_energy'])}, "
+            f"nifty_energy={format_float(row['nifty_energy'])}, "
+            f"delta={format_float(row['energy_diff'])}, "
+            f"bic_runtime={format_float(row['bic_runtime_s'])}s, "
+            f"nifty_runtime={format_float(row['nifty_runtime_s'])}s, "
+            f"ratio={format_float(row['runtime_ratio'])}"
+        ),
+        file=sys.stderr,
+        flush=True,
+    )
+
+
 def print_markdown_table(rows: list[dict]) -> None:
     headers = [
         "problem",
@@ -224,7 +241,9 @@ def main() -> None:
     rows = []
     for problem_name in args.problems:
         for solver_name in args.solvers:
-            rows.append(evaluate(problem_name, solver_name, configs[solver_name], args))
+            row = evaluate(problem_name, solver_name, configs[solver_name], args)
+            rows.append(row)
+            print_progress(row)
     print_markdown_table(rows)
 
 

development/graph/multicut/PERFORMANCE_NOTES.md

@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+# Multicut Performance Notes
+
+State of the multicut solvers vs nifty on the standard benchmark problems and
+notes on remaining optimization headroom. Read this before the next round of
+perf work.
+
+## Current benchmark matrix
+
+Produced by `python evaluate_solvers.py` (2026-05-17). Small problems were run
+with both implementations in one pass:
+
+```bash
+python evaluate_solvers.py --problems A_small B_small C_small \
+    --results-jsonl benchmark_results/small_both.jsonl
+```
+
+Medium problems were run in two passes so completed rows were preserved even if
+a long nifty row had to be stopped:
+
+```bash
+python evaluate_solvers.py --problems A_medium B_medium C_medium \
+    --backend bic --results-jsonl benchmark_results/medium_bic.jsonl
+python evaluate_solvers.py --problems A_medium B_medium C_medium \
+    --backend nifty --results-jsonl benchmark_results/medium_nifty.jsonl
+```
+
+All runs are single-threaded with `n_repeats=1`. `KernighanLinMulticut` and the
+KL stage inside `ChainedMulticutSolvers` use 5 outer iterations. Fusion-move
+uses watershed proposals, `numberOfIterations=10`, `stopIfNoImprovement=4`, and
+a greedy-additive fusion sub-solver on the nifty side. `runtime ratio` is
+`nifty_runtime / bic_runtime` - values reported as "faster" mean bic is faster.
+
+| Problem | Solver | bic energy | nifty energy | Δenergy | bic runtime | nifty runtime | runtime ratio |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| A_small | greedy_additive | -76 914.52 | -76 914.52 | 0.00 | 0.28 s | 0.38 s | 1.32x faster |
+| A_small | kernighan_lin | -76 916.06 | -76 916.06 | 0.00 | 2.04 s | 2.54 s | 1.24x faster |
+| A_small | greedy_fixation | -76 914.13 | -76 914.13 | 0.00 | 0.28 s | 1.96 s | 7.09x faster |
+| A_small | chained | -76 916.06 | -76 916.06 | 0.00 | 2.02 s | 2.56 s | 1.27x faster |
+| A_small | decomposer | -76 914.52 | -76 914.52 | 0.00 | 0.26 s | 0.34 s | 1.30x faster |
+| A_small | fusion_move | -76 915.29 | -76 915.29 | 0.00 | 1.60 s | 2.35 s | 1.46x faster |
+| B_small | greedy_additive | -437 001.4 | -437 001.4 | 0.00 | 0.32 s | 0.44 s | 1.36x faster |
+| B_small | kernighan_lin | -437 023.6 | -437 023.6 | 0.00 | 4.40 s | 5.32 s | 1.21x faster |
+| B_small | greedy_fixation | -436 943.8 | -436 943.8 | 0.00 | 0.34 s | 1.86 s | 5.43x faster |
+| B_small | chained | -437 023.6 | -437 023.6 | 0.00 | 4.36 s | 5.27 s | 1.21x faster |
+| B_small | decomposer | -437 001.4 | -437 001.4 | 0.00 | 0.32 s | 0.49 s | 1.50x faster |
+| B_small | fusion_move | -437 034.1 | -437 034.1 | 0.00 | 1.60 s | 2.62 s | 1.64x faster |
+| C_small | greedy_additive | -24 189.93 | -24 189.93 | 0.00 | 0.74 s | 0.87 s | 1.17x faster |
+| C_small | kernighan_lin | -24 191.91 | -24 191.95 | +0.03698 | 6.52 s | 7.41 s | 1.14x faster |
+| C_small | greedy_fixation | -24 162.43 | -24 162.43 | 0.00 | 0.76 s | 2.79 s | 3.66x faster |
+| C_small | chained | -24 191.91 | -24 191.95 | +0.03698 | 6.52 s | 7.33 s | 1.12x faster |
+| C_small | decomposer | -24 189.93 | -24 189.93 | 0.00 | 0.74 s | 0.91 s | 1.23x faster |
+| C_small | fusion_move | -24 191.45 | -24 191.45 | 0.00 | 4.90 s | 7.42 s | 1.52x faster |
+| A_medium | greedy_additive | -535 228.2 | -535 228.2 | 0.00 | 6.21 s | 6.72 s | 1.08x faster |
+| A_medium | kernighan_lin | -535 251.2 | -535 251.3 | +0.0821 | 124.75 s | 137.72 s | 1.10x faster |
+| A_medium | greedy_fixation | -535 214.6 | -535 214.6 | 0.00 | 6.16 s | 25.26 s | 4.10x faster |
+| A_medium | chained | -535 251.2 | -535 251.3 | +0.0821 | 122.41 s | 134.68 s | 1.10x faster |
+| A_medium | decomposer | -535 228.2 | -535 228.2 | 0.00 | 6.15 s | 5.81 s | 1.06x slower |
+| A_medium | fusion_move | -535 235.3 | -535 235.3 | 0.00 | 51.34 s | 65.61 s | 1.28x faster |
+| B_medium | greedy_additive | -2 141 349 | -2 141 349 | 0.00 | 5.71 s | 6.78 s | 1.19x faster |
+| B_medium | kernighan_lin | -2 141 705 | -2 141 700 | -5.246 | 263.46 s | 157.91 s | 1.67x slower |
+| B_medium | greedy_fixation | -2 141 097 | -2 141 097 | 0.00 | 5.63 s | 24.22 s | 4.30x faster |
+| B_medium | chained | -2 141 705 | -2 141 700 | -5.246 | 259.35 s | 156.60 s | 1.66x slower |
+| B_medium | decomposer | -2 141 349 | -2 141 349 | 0.00 | 5.62 s | 7.00 s | 1.25x faster |
+| B_medium | fusion_move | -2 141 572 | -2 141 572 | 0.00 | 43.82 s | 67.12 s | 1.53x faster |
+| C_medium | greedy_additive | -90 732.51 | -90 732.51 | 0.00 | 11.05 s | 11.53 s | 1.04x faster |
+| C_medium | kernighan_lin | -90 768.01 | -90 768.56 | +0.5491 | 219.36 s | 240.26 s | 1.10x faster |
+| C_medium | greedy_fixation | -90 631.67 | -90 631.67 | 0.00 | 11.11 s | 30.28 s | 2.73x faster |
+| C_medium | chained | -90 768.01 | -90 768.56 | +0.5491 | 218.77 s | 234.48 s | 1.07x faster |
+| C_medium | decomposer | -90 732.51 | -90 732.51 | 0.00 | 10.84 s | 12.12 s | 1.12x faster |
+| C_medium | fusion_move | -90 746.68 | -90 746.68 | 0.00 | 58.34 s | 86.42 s | 1.48x faster |
+
+Δenergy = bic - nifty; negative means bic found the lower-energy labeling,
+positive means nifty did. The only nonzero differences are KL/chained rows, and
+they are tiny relative to the objective scale. Fusion-move, greedy-additive,
+greedy-fixation, and decomposer match nifty energies on every benchmark row.
+
+## Current read
+
+`KernighanLinMulticut` is the dominant runtime target. It is faster than nifty
+on most rows, but `B_medium` is the clear exception: bic KL/chained takes about
+260 s vs nifty's 157 s. Because `ChainedMulticutSolvers` is greedy-additive +
+KL, it inherits the same behavior.
+
+Fusion-move is not the immediate bottleneck. It is faster than nifty on every
+row in the matrix, including all medium problems, with exact energy matches.
+
+Greedy fixation is substantially faster than nifty, and greedy additive plus
+the decomposer are already close enough that further work there is unlikely to
+move end-to-end runtimes unless a downstream workflow uses only those solvers.
+
+Raw intermediate rows are in `benchmark_results/*.jsonl`; the `.md` files next
+to them contain the direct stdout tables from each run.

development/graph/multicut/evaluate_solvers.py

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import argparse
+import json
+import sys
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from statistics import mean
 from time import perf_counter
@@ -141,42 +143,80 @@ def evaluate(problem_name: str, solver_name: str, config: SolverConfig, args):
     nifty_runtimes = []
 
     for _ in range(args.n_repeats):
-        bic_objective = bic.graph.MulticutObjective(bic_graph, costs)
-        start = perf_counter()
-        bic_labels = config.make_bic_solver(args.threads).optimize(bic_objective)
-        bic_runtimes.append(perf_counter() - start)
-        bic_energies.append(bic_energy(bic_graph, costs, bic_labels))
-
-        nifty_objective = nmc.multicutObjective(nifty_graph, costs)
-        start = perf_counter()
-        nifty_labels = (
-            config.make_nifty_factory(nifty_objective, args.threads)
-            .create(nifty_objective)
-            .optimize()
-        )
-        nifty_runtimes.append(perf_counter() - start)
-        nifty_energies.append(nifty_energy(nifty_graph, costs, nifty_labels))
-
-    bic_runtime = mean(bic_runtimes)
-    nifty_runtime = mean(nifty_runtimes)
+        if args.backend in ("both", "bic"):
+            bic_objective = bic.graph.MulticutObjective(bic_graph, costs)
+            start = perf_counter()
+            bic_labels = config.make_bic_solver(args.threads).optimize(bic_objective)
+            bic_runtimes.append(perf_counter() - start)
+            bic_energies.append(bic_energy(bic_graph, costs, bic_labels))
+
+        if args.backend in ("both", "nifty"):
+            nifty_objective = nmc.multicutObjective(nifty_graph, costs)
+            start = perf_counter()
+            nifty_labels = (
+                config.make_nifty_factory(nifty_objective, args.threads)
+                .create(nifty_objective)
+                .optimize()
+            )
+            nifty_runtimes.append(perf_counter() - start)
+            nifty_energies.append(nifty_energy(nifty_graph, costs, nifty_labels))
+
+    bic_runtime = mean(bic_runtimes) if bic_runtimes else None
+    nifty_runtime = mean(nifty_runtimes) if nifty_runtimes else None
+    bic_energy_value = mean(bic_energies) if bic_energies else None
+    nifty_energy_value = mean(nifty_energies) if nifty_energies else None
+    energy_diff = (
+        bic_energy_value - nifty_energy_value
+        if bic_energy_value is not None and nifty_energy_value is not None
+        else None
+    )
     return {
         "problem": problem_name,
         "solver": solver_name,
         "nodes": int(bic_graph.number_of_nodes),
         "edges": int(bic_graph.number_of_edges),
-        "bic_energy": mean(bic_energies),
-        "nifty_energy": mean(nifty_energies),
-        "energy_diff": mean(bic_energies) - mean(nifty_energies),
+        "bic_energy": bic_energy_value,
+        "nifty_energy": nifty_energy_value,
+        "energy_diff": energy_diff,
         "bic_runtime_s": bic_runtime,
         "nifty_runtime_s": nifty_runtime,
-        "runtime_ratio": nifty_runtime / bic_runtime if bic_runtime > 0 else float("inf"),
+        "runtime_ratio": (
+            nifty_runtime / bic_runtime
+            if bic_runtime is not None and nifty_runtime is not None and bic_runtime > 0
+            else None
+        ),
     }
 
 
 def format_float(value: float) -> str:
+    if value is None:
+        return ""
     return f"{value:.6g}"
 
 
+def print_progress(row: dict) -> None:
+    print(
+        (
+            f"[done] {row['problem']} / {row['solver']}: "
+            f"bic_energy={format_float(row['bic_energy'])}, "
+            f"nifty_energy={format_float(row['nifty_energy'])}, "
+            f"delta={format_float(row['energy_diff'])}, "
+            f"bic_runtime={format_float(row['bic_runtime_s'])}s, "
+            f"nifty_runtime={format_float(row['nifty_runtime_s'])}s, "
+            f"ratio={format_float(row['runtime_ratio'])}"
+        ),
+        file=sys.stderr,
+        flush=True,
+    )
+
+
+def append_jsonl(path: str, row: dict) -> None:
+    with open(path, "a", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        json.dump(row, f, sort_keys=True)
+        f.write("\n")
+        f.flush()
+
+
 def print_markdown_table(rows: list[dict]) -> None:
     headers = [
         "problem",
@@ -233,6 +273,16 @@ def main() -> None:
     parser.add_argument("--n-repeats", type=int, default=1)
     parser.add_argument("--threads", type=int, default=1)
     parser.add_argument("--timeout", type=float, default=30.0)
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--backend",
+        choices=("both", "bic", "nifty"),
+        default="both",
+        help="Which implementation to run. Defaults to both.",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--results-jsonl",
+        help="Append each completed row to this JSONL file.",
+    )
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     if args.n_repeats < 1:
@@ -243,7 +293,11 @@ def main() -> None:
     rows = []
     for problem_name in args.problems:
         for solver_name in args.solvers:
-            rows.append(evaluate(problem_name, solver_name, configs[solver_name], args))
+            row = evaluate(problem_name, solver_name, configs[solver_name], args)
+            rows.append(row)
+            print_progress(row)
+            if args.results_jsonl is not None:
+                append_jsonl(args.results_jsonl, row)
     print_markdown_table(rows)