Add option to use mimalloc as global allocator

.github/workflows/branch-protection.yml

@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ jobs:
             install-optionals: true
             install-from-sdist: false
             qiskit-pycache: false
+            mimalloc: false
           - id: "Python newest"
             python: ${{ needs.config.outputs.python-new }}
             install-optionals: false
@@ -127,6 +128,7 @@ jobs:
           - id: "Python oldest"
             python: ${{ needs.config.outputs.python-old }}
             install-optionals: true
+            mimalloc: false
           - id: "Python newest"
             python: ${{ needs.config.outputs.python-new }}
             install-optionals: false
@@ -146,6 +148,7 @@ jobs:
           - id: "Python oldest"
             python: ${{ needs.config.outputs.python-old }}
             install-optionals: true
+            mimalloc: false
           - id: "Python newest"
             python: ${{ needs.config.outputs.python-new }}
             install-optionals: false

.github/workflows/test-linux.yml

@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ on:
           structures when building Qiskit.
         type: boolean
         default: true
+      mimalloc:
+        description: >
+          Whether to build with mimalloc or not
+        type: boolean
+        default: true
 
 jobs:
   unit-tests:
@@ -61,6 +66,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set gate-caching settings for build
         if: ${{ !inputs.qiskit-pycache }}
         run: 'echo "QISKIT_NO_CACHE_GATES=1" >> $GITHUB_ENV'
+      - name: Set mimalloc for build
+        if: ${{ inputs.mimalloc }}
+        run: 'echo "QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1" >> $GITHUB_ENV'
       - name: Install Qiskit from sdist
         if: ${{ inputs.install-from-sdist }}
         run: |

.github/workflows/test-mac.yml

@@ -8,18 +8,22 @@ on:
           Python version to currently test
         type: string
         required: true
-
       install-optionals:
         description: >
           Decides whether we install optyional dependencies
         type: boolean
         default: false
-
       runner:
         description: >
           Describes the system this workflow should run on.
         type: string
         required: true
+      mimalloc:
+        description: >
+          Whether to build with mimalloc or not
+        type: boolean
+        default: true
+
 jobs:
   tests-mac:
     name: ${{ inputs.runner }} - Python ${{ inputs.python-version }}
@@ -42,6 +46,9 @@ jobs:
             stestr | "${{ runner.os }}"
             stestr
           path: .stestr
+      - name: Set mimalloc for build
+        if: ${{ inputs.mimalloc }}
+        run: 'echo "QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1" >> $GITHUB_ENV'
       - name: "Install dependencies"
         run: |
           set -e

.github/workflows/test-windows.yml

@@ -8,18 +8,21 @@ on:
           Python version to currently test
         type: string
         required: true
-
       runner:
         description: >
           Describes the system this workflow should run on.
         type: string
         required: true
-
       install-optionals:
         description: >
           Decides whether we install optyional dependencies
         type: boolean
         default: false
+      mimalloc:
+        description: >
+          Whether to build with mimalloc or not
+        type: boolean
+        default: true
 jobs:
   test-windows:
     name: ${{ inputs.runner }} - Python ${{ inputs.python-version }}
@@ -42,6 +45,9 @@ jobs:
             stestr | "${{ runner.os }}"
             stestr
           path: .stestr
+      - name: Set mimalloc for build
+        if: ${{ inputs.mimalloc }}
+        run: 'echo "QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1" >> $GITHUB_ENV'
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |
           python -m venv test-job

.github/workflows/wheels-build.yml

@@ -108,9 +108,9 @@ jobs:
           cat >>"$GITHUB_ENV" <<EOF
           CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_LINUX=dnf install -y wget && {package}/tools/install_rust.sh
           CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD=bash ./tools/build_pgo.sh $PGO_WORK_DIR $PGO_OUT_PATH
-          CIBW_ENVIRONMENT=RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN=stable RUSTFLAGS='-Cprofile-use=$PGO_OUT_PATH -Cllvm-args=-pgo-warn-missing-function'
-          CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_MACOS=MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET='10.12' RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN=stable RUSTFLAGS='-Cprofile-use=$PGO_OUT_PATH -Cllvm-args=-pgo-warn-missing-function'
-          CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_LINUX=RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN=stable RUSTFLAGS='-Cprofile-use=$PGO_OUT_PATH -Cllvm-args=-pgo-warn-missing-function' PATH="\$PATH:\$HOME/.cargo/bin" CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI="true"
+          CIBW_ENVIRONMENT=RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN=stable RUSTFLAGS='-Cprofile-use=$PGO_OUT_PATH -Cllvm-args=-pgo-warn-missing-function' QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1
+          CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_MACOS=MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET='10.12' RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN=stable RUSTFLAGS='-Cprofile-use=$PGO_OUT_PATH -Cllvm-args=-pgo-warn-missing-function' QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1
+          CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_LINUX=RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN=stable QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1 RUSTFLAGS='-Cprofile-use=$PGO_OUT_PATH -Cllvm-args=-pgo-warn-missing-function' PATH="\$PATH:\$HOME/.cargo/bin" CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI="true"
           EOF
         env:
           PGO_WORK_DIR: ${{ github.workspace }}/pgo-data

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -165,16 +165,27 @@ to `build_rust` overrides this default.
 
 ### Compile time options
 
-When building qiskit from source there are options available to control how
-Qiskit is built. Right now the only option is if you set the environment
-variable `QISKIT_NO_CACHE_GATES=1` this will disable runtime caching of
-Python gate objects when accessing them from a `QuantumCircuit` or `DAGCircuit`.
-This makes a tradeoff between runtime performance for Python access and memory
-overhead. Caching gates will result in better runtime for users of Python at
-the cost of increased memory consumption. If you're working with any custom
-transpiler passes written in Python or are otherwise using a workflow that
-repeatedly accesses the `operation` attribute of a `CircuitInstruction` or `op`
-attribute of `DAGOpNode` enabling caching is recommended.
+When building Qiskit from source there are options available to control how
+Qiskit is built. These options are set with the following environment variables:
+
+* `QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1`: this will enable using
+  [mimalloc](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc) as the global allocator for
+  Qiskit instead of the default system allocator. This improves the runtime and
+  memory performance of Qiskit but will require having a C compiler installed
+  when building Qiskit.
+* `QISKIT_NO_CACHE_GATES=1`: this will disable runtime caching of
+  Python gate objects when accessing them from a `QuantumCircuit` or `DAGCircuit`.
+  This makes a tradeoff between runtime performance for Python access and memory
+  overhead. Caching gates will result in better runtime for users of Python at
+  the cost of increased memory consumption. If you're working with any custom
+  transpiler passes written in Python or are otherwise using a workflow that
+  repeatedly accesses the `operation` attribute of a `CircuitInstruction` or `op`
+  attribute of `DAGOpNode` enabling caching is recommended.
+
+These environment variables are only valid when building Qiskit the Python package
+with a PEP 517 compatible build tool or calling `setup.py` directly.
+Or as a standalone C library with `make c` (`QISKIT_NO_CACHE_GATES` has no effect
+when building a standalone C library).
 
 ## Issues and pull requests
 

Cargo.toml

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ uuid = { version = "1.23", features = ["v4", "fast-rng"], default-features = fal
 anyhow = "1.0"
 binrw = "0.15"
 cbindgen = "0.29.2"
+mimalloc = "0.1.48"
 
 # Most of the crates don't need the feature `extension-module`, since only `qiskit-pyext` builds an
 # actual C extension (the feature disables linking in `libpython`, which is forbidden in Python

Makefile

@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ ifneq ($(OS), Windows_NT)
 	OS := $(shell uname -s)
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC), 1)
+	MIMALLOC := --features=mimalloc
+endif
+
 .PHONY: default ruff env lint lint-incr style black test test_randomized pytest pytest_randomized test_ci coverage coverage_erase clean
 
 default: style lint-incr test ;
@@ -135,7 +139,7 @@ fix_cformat:
 # instead.
 .PHONY: build-clib build-clib-release build-clib-dev
 build-clib:
-	cargo rustc -p qiskit-cext --crate-type cdylib ${C_LIB_CARGO_FLAGS} -- ${C_LIB_RUSTC_FLAGS}
+	cargo rustc -p qiskit-cext ${MIMALLOC} --crate-type cdylib ${C_LIB_CARGO_FLAGS} -- ${C_LIB_RUSTC_FLAGS}
 build-clib-release: C_LIB_CARGO_FLAGS=--release
 build-clib-release: build-clib
 build-clib-dev: C_LIB_CARGO_FLAGS=--profile dev

asv.conf.json

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
     ],
     "build_command": [
         "python -m pip install -U build",
-        "python -m build --outdir {build_cache_dir} --wheel {build_dir}"
+        "QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1 python -m build --outdir {build_cache_dir} --wheel {build_dir}"
     ],
     "branches": ["main"],
     "dvcs": "git",

crates/cext/Cargo.toml

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ hashbrown.workspace = true
 rand.workspace = true
 rand_pcg.workspace = true
 anyhow.workspace = true
+mimalloc = { workspace = true, optional = true}
 
 [features]
 python_binding = ["dep:pyo3"]

crates/cext/src/lib.rs

@@ -25,6 +25,13 @@ pub mod transpiler;
 
 pub use exit_codes::ExitCode;
 
+#[cfg(feature = "mimalloc")]
+use mimalloc::MiMalloc;
+
+#[cfg(feature = "mimalloc")]
+#[global_allocator]
+static GLOBAL: MiMalloc = MiMalloc;
+
 /// Get the C API version of the loaded library.
 ///
 /// If you are dynamically linking against Qiskit, in either a stand-alone or Python-extension

crates/pyext/Cargo.toml

@@ -41,3 +41,4 @@ qiskit-cext-vtable = { workspace = true, features = ["python_binding", "addr"] }
 qiskit-transpiler.workspace = true
 qiskit-quantum-info.workspace = true
 qiskit-synthesis.workspace = true
+mimalloc = { workspace = true, optional = true }

crates/pyext/src/lib.rs

@@ -15,6 +15,13 @@ pub use qiskit_cext::*;
 
 mod capi;
 
+#[cfg(feature = "mimalloc")]
+use mimalloc::MiMalloc;
+
+#[cfg(feature = "mimalloc")]
+#[global_allocator]
+static GLOBAL: MiMalloc = MiMalloc;
+
 #[inline(always)]
 #[doc(hidden)]
 fn add_submodule<F>(m: &Bound<PyModule>, constructor: F, name: &str) -> PyResult<()>

pyproject.toml

@@ -300,16 +300,16 @@ before-test = "pip install --only-binary=numpy,scipy numpy scipy -c constraints.
 # specific job override is needed. For example tier 1 platforms locally override
 # the before-build and environment configuration to enable PGO,
 # see: .github/workflows/wheels.yml for the jobs where this is done
-environment = 'RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN="stable"'
+environment = 'RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN="stable" QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1'
 
 [tool.cibuildwheel.linux]
 before-all = "yum install -y wget && {package}/tools/install_rust.sh"
-environment = 'PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.cargo/bin" CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI="true" RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN="stable"'
+environment = 'PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.cargo/bin" CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI="true" RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN="stable" QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1'
 repair-wheel-command = "auditwheel repair -w {dest_dir} {wheel} && pipx run abi3audit --strict --report {wheel}"
 
 [tool.cibuildwheel.macos]
 repair-wheel-command = "delocate-wheel --require-archs {delocate_archs} -w {dest_dir} -v {wheel} && pipx run abi3audit --strict --report {wheel}"
-environment = "MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET='10.12' RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN=stable"
+environment = "MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET='10.12' RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN=stable QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1"
 
 [tool.cibuildwheel.windows]
 test-command = "cp -r {project}/test . && stestr --test-path test/python run --abbreviate"

releasenotes/notes/mimalloc-403d3300aa698fae.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+---
+features_misc:
+  - The precompiled wheels on PyPI are now built using `mimalloc <https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc>`__
+    as the global allocator. This improves the runtime performance of Qiskit and also should
+    reduce the resident set size when running Qiskit.
+build:
+  - Qiskit can now be optionally built using `mimalloc <https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc>`__
+    as the global allocator to improve the runtime performance of Qiskit.
+    To opt-in to using mimalloc, set the environment variable ``QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC=1``.
+    This option can be used when either building the Python package or when using the Makefile
+    (`make c`) to build a standalone shared library.

setup.py

@@ -135,6 +135,9 @@ def get_package_dir(package: str) -> Path:
 else:
     features = ["cache_pygates"]
 
+if os.getenv("QISKIT_BUILD_WITH_MIMALLOC") == "1":
+    features.append("mimalloc")
+
 
 setup(
     rust_extensions=[