Converted RD to RDoc (Lyle Johnson) and improved documentation.

git-svn-id: svn+ssh://ci.ruby-lang.org/ruby/trunk@4577 b2dd03c8-39d4-4d8f-98ff-823fe69b080e

1 files changed, 423 insertions, 460 deletions

diff --git a/lib/benchmark.rb b/lib/benchmark.rb
index 547f21eac2..c5d1cecc4d 100644
--- a/lib/benchmark.rb
+++ b/lib/benchmark.rb
@@ -1,441 +1,201 @@
 #
-# benchmark.rb
+# benchmark.rb - a performance benchmarking library 
+# 
+# $Id$
+# 
+# Created by Gotoken (gotoken@notwork.org). 
+#
+# Documentation by Gotoken (original RD), Lyle Johnson (RDoc conversion), and
+# Gavin Sinclair (editing). 
+#
+# == Overview
+#
+# The Benchmark module provides methods for benchmarking Ruby code, giving
+# detailed reports on the time taken for each task.
 #
-=begin
-= benchmark.rb
-
-== NAME
-((*benchmark.rb*)) - a benchmark utility
-
-== SYNOPSIS
-  ----------
-       require "benchmark"
-       include Benchmark
-  ----------
-
-== DESCRIPTION 
-
-benchmark.rb provides some utilities to measure and report the
-times used and passed to execute.  
-
-== SIMPLE EXAMPLE
-
-=== EXAMPLE 0
-To ((<measure>)) the times to make (({"a"*1_000_000})):
-
-  ----------
-       puts measure{ "a"*1_000_000 }
-  ----------
-
-On my machine (FreeBSD 3.2 on P5100MHz) this reported as follows:
-
-  ----------
-         1.166667   0.050000   1.216667 (  0.571355)
-  ----------
-
-The above shows user time, system time, user+system, and really passed
-time.  The unit of time is second.
-
-=== EXAMPLE 1
-To do some experiments sequentially, ((<bm>)) is useful:
-
-  ----------
-       n = 50000
-       bm do |x|
-         x.report{for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end}
-         x.report{n.times do   ; a = "1"; end}
-         x.report{1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end}
-       end
-  ----------
-
-The result:
-  ----------
-             user     system      total        real
-         1.033333   0.016667   1.016667 (  0.492106)
-         1.483333   0.000000   1.483333 (  0.694605)
-         1.516667   0.000000   1.516667 (  0.711077)
-  ----------
-
-=== EXAMPLE 2
-To put a label in each ((<report>)):
-
-  ----------
-       n = 50000
-       bm(7) do |x|
-         x.report("for:")   {for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end}
-         x.report("times:") {n.times do   ; a = "1"; end}
-         x.report("upto:")  {1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end}
-       end
-  ----------
-
-The option (({7})) specifies the offset of each report accoding to the
-longest label.
-
-This reports as follows:
-
-  ----------
-                    user     system      total        real
-       for:     1.050000   0.000000   1.050000 (  0.503462)
-       times:   1.533333   0.016667   1.550000 (  0.735473)
-       upto:    1.500000   0.016667   1.516667 (  0.711239)
-  ----------
-
-=== EXAMPLE 3
-
-By the way, benchmarks might seem to depend on the order of items.  It
-is caused by the cost of memory allocation and the garbage collection.
-To prevent this boresome, Benchmark::((<bmbm>)) is provided, e.g., to
-compare ways for sort array of strings:
-
-  ----------
-       require "rbconfig"
-       include Config
-       def file
-         open("%s/lib/ruby/%s.%s/tk.rb" % 
-              [CONFIG['prefix'],CONFIG['MAJOR'],CONFIG['MINOR']]).read
-       end
-
-       n = 10
-       bmbm do |x|
-         x.report("destructive!"){ 
-           t = (file*n).to_a; t.each{|line| line.upcase!}; t.sort!
-         }
-         x.report("method chain"){ 
-           t = (file*n).to_a.collect{|line| line.upcase}.sort
-         }
-       end
-  ----------
-
-This reports:
-
-  ----------
-       Rehearsal ------------------------------------------------
-       destructive!   2.664062   0.070312   2.734375 (  2.783401)
-       method chain   5.257812   0.156250   5.414062 (  5.736088)
-       --------------------------------------- total: 8.148438sec
-       
-                          user     system      total        real
-       destructive!   2.359375   0.007812   2.367188 (  2.381015)
-       method chain   3.046875   0.023438   3.070312 (  3.085816)
-  ----------
-
-=== EXAMPLE 4
-To report statistics of sequential experiments with unique label,
-((<benchmark>)) is available:
-
-  ----------
-       n = 50000
-       benchmark(" "*7 + CAPTION, 7, FMTSTR, ">total:", ">avg:") do |x|
-         tf = x.report("for:")  {for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end}
-         tt = x.report("times:"){n.times do   ; a = "1"; end}
-         tu = x.report("upto:") {1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end}
-         [tf+tt+tu, (tf+tt+tu)/3]
-       end
-  ----------
-
-The result:
-
-  ----------
-                    user     system      total        real
-       for:     1.016667   0.016667   1.033333 (  0.485749)
-       times:   1.450000   0.016667   1.466667 (  0.681367)
-       upto:    1.533333   0.000000   1.533333 (  0.722166)
-       >total:  4.000000   0.033333   4.033333 (  1.889282)
-       >avg:    1.333333   0.011111   1.344444 (  0.629761)
-  ----------
-
-== Benchmark module
-
-=== CONSTANT
-:CAPTION
-  CAPTION is a caption string which is used in Benchmark::((<benchmark>)) and 
-  Benchmark::Report#((<report>)). 
-:FMTSTR
-  FMTSTR is a format string which is used in Benchmark::((<benchmark>)) and 
-  Benchmark::Report#((<report>)). See also Benchmark::Tms#((<format>)). 
-:BENCHMARK_VERSION
-  BENCHMARK_VERSION is version string which statnds for the last modification
-  date (YYYY-MM-DD). 
-
-=== INNER CLASS
-* ((<Benchmark::Job>))
-* ((<Benchmark::Report>))
-* ((<Benchmark::Tms>))
-
-=== MODULE FUNCTION
-==== benchmark
-  ----------
-       benchmark([caption [, label_width [, fmtstr]]]) do |x| ... end
-       benchmark([caption [, label_width [, fmtstr]]]) do array_of_Tms end
-       benchmark([caption [, label_width [, fmtstr [, labels...]]]]) do 
-         ...
-         array_of_Tms
-       end
-  ----------
-
-(({benchmark})) reports the times. In the first form the block variable x is
-treated as a ((<Benchmark::Report>)) object, which has ((<report>)) method.
-In the second form, each member of array_of_Tms is reported in the
-specified form if the member is a ((<Benchmark::Tms>)) object.  The
-last form provides combined above two forms (See ((<EXAMPLE 3>))). 
-
-The following lists the meaning of each option. 
-
-:caption
- A string ((|caption|)) is printed once before execution of the given block. 
-
-:label_width
- An integer ((|label_width|)) is used as an offset in each report. 
-
-:fmtstr
- An string ((|fmtstr|)) is used to format each measurement. 
- See ((<format>))
-
-:labels
- The rest parameters labels is used as prefix of the format to the
- value of block, that is array_of_Tms.
-
-==== bm
-  ----------
-       bm([label_width [, labels ...]) do ... end
-  ----------
-
-(({bm})) is a simpler interface of ((<benchmark>)). 
-(({bm})) acts as same as follows:
-
-  benchmark(" "*label_width + CAPTION, label_width, FMTSTR, *labels) do 
-    ... 
-  end
-
-==== bmbm
-  ----------
-       bmbm([label_width]) do |x|
-         x.item("label1") { .... } 
-         ....
-       end
-  ----------
-
-(({bmbm})) is yet another ((<benchmark>)).  This utility function is
-provited to prevent a kind of job order dependency, which is caused
-by memory allocation and object creation.  The usage is similar to
-((<bm>)) but has less options and does extra three things:
-
-  (1) ((*Rehearsal*)): runs all items in the job ((<list>)) to allocate
-      enough memory.
-  (2) ((*GC*)): before each ((<measure>))ment, invokes (({GC.start})) to
-      prevent the influence of previous job. 
-  (3) If given ((|label_width|)) is less than the maximal width of labels
-      given as ((|item|))'s argument, the latter is used.  
-      Because (({bmbm})) is a 2-pass procedure, this is possible. 
-
-(({bmbm})) returns an array which consists of Tms correspoding to each
-(({item})). 
-==== measure 
-  ----------
-       measure([label]) do ... end
-  ----------
-
-measure returns the times used and passed to execute the given block as a
-Benchmark::Tms object. 
-
-==== realtime
-  ----------
-       realtime do ... end
-  ----------
-
-realtime returns the times passed to execute the given block. 
-
-== Benchmark::Report
-
-=== CLASS METHOD
-
-==== Benchmark::Report::new(width)
-  ----------
-       Benchmark::Report::new([width [, fmtstr]])
-  ----------
-
-Usually, one doesn't have to use this method directly, 
-(({Benchmark::Report::new})) is called by ((<benchmark>)) or ((<bm>)). 
-((|width|)) and ((|fmtstr|)) are the offset of ((|label|)) and 
-format string responsively; Both of them are used in ((<format>)). 
-
-=== METHOD
-
-==== report
-
-  ----------
-       report(fmt, *args)
-  ----------
-
-This method reports label and time formated by ((|fmt|)).  See
-((<format>)) of Benchmark::Tms for formatting rule.
-
-== Benchmark::Tms
-
-=== CLASS METHOD
-
-== Benchmark::Job
-
-=== CLASS METHOD
-
-==== Benchmark::Job::new
-  ----------
-       Benchmark::Job::new(width)
-  ----------
-
-Usually, one doesn't have to use this method directly,
-(({Benchmark::Job::new})) is called by ((<bmbm>)). 
-((|width|)) is a initial value for the offset ((|label|)) for formatting. 
-((<bmbm>)) passes its argument ((|width|)) to this constructor. 
-
-=== METHOD
-
-==== item
-  ----------
-       item(((|lable|))){ .... }
-  ----------
-
-(({item})) registers a pair of (((|label|))) and given block as job ((<list>)). 
-==== width
-
-Maximum length of labels in ((<list>)) plus one.  
-
-==== list
-
-array of array which consists of label and jop proc. 
-
-==== report
-
-alias to ((<item>)).
-
-==== Benchmark::Tms::new
-  ----------
-       Benchmark::Tms::new([u [, s [, cu [, cs [, re [, l]]]]]])
-  ----------
-
-returns new Benchmark::Tms object which has
-((|u|))  as ((<utime>)), 
-((|s|))  as ((<stime>)), 
-((|cu|)) as ((<cutime>))
-((|cs|)) as ((<cstime>)), 
-((|re|)) as ((<real>)) and
-((|l|))  as ((<label>)). 
-
-The default value is assumed as 0.0 for ((|u|)), ((|s|)), ((|cu|)),
-((|cs|)) and ((|re|)). The default of ((|l|)) is null string ((({""}))). 
-
-==== operator +
-  ----------
-       tms1 + tms2
-  ----------
-
-returns a new Benchmark::Tms object as memberwise summation. 
-This method and ((<(('operator /'))>)) is useful to take statistics. 
-
-==== operator /
-  ----------
-       tms / num
-  ----------
-
-returns a new Benchmark::Tms object as memberwise division by ((|num|)). 
-This method and ((<operator +>)) is useful to take statistics. 
-
-==== add
-  ----------
-       add do ... end
-  ----------
-
-returns a new Benchmark::Tms object which is the result of additional
-execution which is given by block. 
-
-==== add!
-  ----------
-       add! do ... end
-  ----------
-
-do additional execution which is given by block. 
-
-==== format
-  ----------
-       format([fmtstr [, *args]])
-  ----------
-
-(({format})) returns formatted string of (({self})) according to a
-((|fmtstr|)) like (({Kernel::format})). In addition, (({format})) accepts
-some extentions as follows:
-  :%u
-    ((<utime>)).
-  :%y
-    ((<stime>)). (Mnemonic: y of ``s((*y*))stem'')
-  :%U
-    ((<cutime>)). 
-  :%Y
-    ((<cstime>)). 
-  :%t
-    ((<total>)). 
-  :%r
-    ((<real>)). 
-  :%n
-    ((<label>)). (Mnemonic: n of ``((*n*))ame'')
-
-If fmtstr is not given ((<FMTSTR>)) is used as default value. 
-
-==== utime
-
-returns user time. 
-
-==== stime
-
-returns system time. 
-
-==== cutime
-
-returns user time of children. 
-
-==== cstime
-
-returns system time of children. 
-
-==== total
-
-returns total time, that is 
-((<utime>)) + ((<stime>)) + ((<cutime>)) + ((<cstime>)). 
-
-==== real
-
-returns really passed time. 
-
-==== label
-
-returns label. 
-
-==== to_a
-
-returns a new array as follows
-
-  [label, utime, stime, cutime, cstime, real]
-
-==== to_s
-
-same as (({format()})). See also ((<format>)).
-
-== HISTORY
-
-A benchmark.rb appeared in RAA January 1st 2000. 
-
-== AUTHOR
 
-Gotoken (gotoken@notwork.org). 
-=end
 
+#
+# The Benchmark module provides methods to measure and report the time
+# used to execute Ruby code.  Read on for illustrative examples.
+# 
+# == Examples
+# 
+#
+# === Example 1
+#
+# To measure the time to construct the string given by the expression
+# <tt>"a"*1_000_000</tt>:
+#
+#       require 'benchmark'
+#
+#       puts Benchmark.measure { "a"*1_000_000 }
+# 
+# On my machine (FreeBSD 3.2 on P5100MHz) this reported as follows:
+# 
+#       1.166667   0.050000   1.216667 (  0.571355)
+# 
+# This report shows the user CPU time, system CPU time, the sum of the user and
+# system CPU times, and the elapsed real time. The unit of time is seconds.
+# 
+#
+# === Example 2
+#
+# To do some experiments sequentially, the #bm method is useful:
+#
+#       require 'benchmark'
+#
+#       n = 50000
+#       Benchmark.bm do |x|
+#         x.report { for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end }
+#         x.report { n.times do   ; a = "1"; end }
+#         x.report { 1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end }
+#       end
+# 
+# The result:
+#
+#              user     system      total        real
+#          1.033333   0.016667   1.016667 (  0.492106)
+#          1.483333   0.000000   1.483333 (  0.694605)
+#          1.516667   0.000000   1.516667 (  0.711077)
+#
+#
+# === Example 3
+#
+# Continuing the previous example, to put a label in each report:
+#
+#       require 'benchmark'
+#
+#       n = 50000
+#       Benchmark.bm(7) do |x|
+#         x.report("for:")   { for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end }
+#         x.report("times:") { n.times do   ; a = "1"; end }
+#         x.report("upto:")  { 1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end }
+#       end
+# 
+# The argument to #bm (7) specifies the offset of each report according to the
+# longest label.
+# 
+# The result:
+# 
+#                     user     system      total        real
+#        for:     1.050000   0.000000   1.050000 (  0.503462)
+#        times:   1.533333   0.016667   1.550000 (  0.735473)
+#        upto:    1.500000   0.016667   1.516667 (  0.711239)
+# 
+#
+# === Example 4
+# 
+# The times for some benchmarks depend on the order in which items are run.
+# These differences are due to the cost of memory allocation and garbage
+# collection.
+#
+# To avoid these discrepancies, the #bmbm method is provided.  For example, to
+# compare ways for sort an array of floats:
+#
+#       require 'benchmark'
+#       
+#       array = (1..1000000).map { rand }
+#       
+#       Benchmark.bmbm do |x|
+#         x.report("sort!") { array.dup.sort! }
+#         x.report("sort")  { array.dup.sort  }
+#       end
+# 
+# The result:
+# 
+#        Rehearsal -----------------------------------------
+#        sort!  11.928000   0.010000  11.938000 ( 12.756000)
+#        sort   13.048000   0.020000  13.068000 ( 13.857000)
+#        ------------------------------- total: 25.006000sec
+#        
+#                    user     system      total        real
+#        sort!  12.959000   0.010000  12.969000 ( 13.793000)
+#        sort   12.007000   0.000000  12.007000 ( 12.791000)
+#
+#
+# === Example 5
+#
+# To report statistics of sequential experiments with unique labels,
+# #benchmark is available:
+#
+#       require 'benchmark'
+#
+#       n = 50000
+#       Benchmark.benchmark(" "*7 + CAPTION, 7, FMTSTR, ">total:", ">avg:") do |x|
+#         tf = x.report("for:")   { for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end }
+#         tt = x.report("times:") { n.times do   ; a = "1"; end }
+#         tu = x.report("upto:")  { 1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end }
+#         [tf+tt+tu, (tf+tt+tu)/3]
+#       end
+# 
+# The result:
+# 
+#                     user     system      total        real
+#        for:     1.016667   0.016667   1.033333 (  0.485749)
+#        times:   1.450000   0.016667   1.466667 (  0.681367)
+#        upto:    1.533333   0.000000   1.533333 (  0.722166)
+#        >total:  4.000000   0.033333   4.033333 (  1.889282)
+#        >avg:    1.333333   0.011111   1.344444 (  0.629761)
+# 
 module Benchmark
+
+  # BENCHMARK_VERSION is version string containing the last modification
+  # date (YYYY-MM-DD). 
   BENCHMARK_VERSION = "2002-04-25"
 
-  def Benchmark::times()
+  def Benchmark::times() # :nodoc:
       Process::times()
   end
 
-  def benchmark(caption = "", label_width = nil, fmtstr = nil, *labels)
+
+  #
+  # Reports the time required to execute one or more blocks of code.
+  #
+  # _Note_: Other methods provide a simpler interface to this one, and are
+  # suitable for nearly all benchmarking requirements.  See the examples in
+  # Benchmark, and the #bm and #bmbm methods.
+  #
+  # Example: 
+  #
+  #     require 'benchmark'
+  #     include Benchmark          # we need the CAPTION and FMTSTR constants 
+  #
+  #     n = 50000
+  #     Benchmark.benchmark(" "*7 + CAPTION, 7, FMTSTR, ">total:", ">avg:") do |x|
+  #       tf = x.report("for:")   { for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end }
+  #       tt = x.report("times:") { n.times do   ; a = "1"; end }
+  #       tu = x.report("upto:")  { 1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end }
+  #       [tf+tt+tu, (tf+tt+tu)/3]
+  #     end
+  # 
+  # The result:
+  # 
+  #                     user     system      total        real
+  #        for:     1.016667   0.016667   1.033333 (  0.485749)
+  #        times:   1.450000   0.016667   1.466667 (  0.681367)
+  #        upto:    1.533333   0.000000   1.533333 (  0.722166)
+  #        >total:  4.000000   0.033333   4.033333 (  1.889282)
+  #        >avg:    1.333333   0.011111   1.344444 (  0.629761)
+  # 
+  # The parameters accepted are as follows:
+  # 
+  # _caption_::
+  #   A string printed once before execution of the given block. 
+  # 
+  # _label_width_::
+  #   An integer used as an offset in each report. 
+  # 
+  # _fmtstr_::
+  #   A string used to format each measurement. See Benchmark::Tms#format.
+  # 
+  # _labels_::
+  #   The remaining parameters are used as prefix of the format to the
+  #   value of block; see the example above.
+  #
+  # This method yields a Benchmark::Report object. 
+  # 
+  def benchmark(caption = "", label_width = nil, fmtstr = nil, *labels) # :yield: report
     sync = STDOUT.sync
     STDOUT.sync = true
     label_width ||= 0
@@ -445,16 +205,82 @@ module Benchmark
     results = yield(Report.new(label_width, fmtstr))
     Array === results and results.grep(Tms).each {|t|
       print((labels.shift || t.label || "").ljust(label_width), 
-	    t.format(fmtstr))
+            t.format(fmtstr))
     }
     STDOUT.sync = sync
   end
 
-  def bm(label_width = 0, *labels)
-    benchmark(" "*label_width + CAPTION, label_width, FMTSTR, *labels){|*x|yield(*x)}
+
+  # 
+  # A simple interface to #benchmark, #bm is suitable for sequential reports
+  # with labels.  For example:
+  # 
+  #     require 'benchmark'
+  #
+  #     n = 50000
+  #     Benchmark.bm(7) do |x|
+  #       x.report("for:")   { for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end }
+  #       x.report("times:") { n.times do   ; a = "1"; end }
+  #       x.report("upto:")  { 1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end }
+  #     end
+  # 
+  # The argument to #bm (7) specifies the offset of each report according to the
+  # longest label.
+  # 
+  # This reports as follows:
+  # 
+  #                     user     system      total        real
+  #        for:     1.050000   0.000000   1.050000 (  0.503462)
+  #        times:   1.533333   0.016667   1.550000 (  0.735473)
+  #        upto:    1.500000   0.016667   1.516667 (  0.711239)
+  #
+  # The labels are optional. 
+  # 
+  def bm(label_width = 0, *labels, &blk) # :yield: report
+    benchmark(" "*label_width + CAPTION, label_width, FMTSTR, *labels, &blk)
   end
 
-  def bmbm(width = 0)
+
+  # 
+  # Similar to #bm, but designed to prevent memory allocation and garbage
+  # collection from influencing the result.  It works like this:
+  # 
+  # 1. The _rehearsal_ step runs all items in the job list to allocate
+  #    enough memory.
+  # 2. Before each measurement, invokes GC.start to prevent the influence of
+  #    previous job. 
+  #
+  # If the specified _label_width_ is less than the width of the widest label
+  # passed as an argument to #item, the latter is used.  (Because #bmbm is a
+  # 2-pass procedure, this is possible.)  Therefore you do not really need to
+  # specify a label width.
+  #
+  # For example:
+  #
+  #       require 'benchmark'
+  #       
+  #       array = (1..1000000).map { rand }
+  #       
+  #       Benchmark.bmbm do |x|
+  #         x.report("sort!") { array.dup.sort! }
+  #         x.report("sort")  { array.dup.sort  }
+  #       end
+  # 
+  # The result:
+  # 
+  #        Rehearsal -----------------------------------------
+  #        sort!  11.928000   0.010000  11.938000 ( 12.756000)
+  #        sort   13.048000   0.020000  13.068000 ( 13.857000)
+  #        ------------------------------- total: 25.006000sec
+  #        
+  #                    user     system      total        real
+  #        sort!  12.959000   0.010000  12.969000 ( 13.793000)
+  #        sort   12.007000   0.000000  12.007000 ( 12.791000)
+  #
+  # #bmbm yields a Benchmark::Job object and returns an array of one
+  # Benchmark::Tms objects.
+  #
+  def bmbm(width = 0, &blk) # :yield: job
     job = Job.new(width)
     yield(job)
     width = job.width
@@ -474,7 +300,7 @@ module Benchmark
     sum = Tms.new; list.each{|i| sum += i}
     ets = sum.format("total: %tsec")
     printf("%s %s\n\n",
-	   "-"*(width+CAPTION.length-ets.length-1), ets)
+           "-"*(width+CAPTION.length-ets.length-1), ets)
     
     # take
     print ' '*width, CAPTION
@@ -493,29 +319,52 @@ module Benchmark
     ary
   end
 
-  def measure(label = "")
+  # 
+  # Returns the time used to execute the given block as a
+  # Benchmark::Tms object.
+  #
+  def measure(label = "") # :yield:
     t0, r0 = Benchmark.times, Time.now
     yield
     t1, r1 = Benchmark.times, Time.now
     Benchmark::Tms.new(t1.utime  - t0.utime, 
-		       t1.stime  - t0.stime, 
-		       t1.cutime - t0.cutime, 
-		       t1.cstime - t0.cstime, 
-		       r1.to_f - r0.to_f,
-		       label)
+                       t1.stime  - t0.stime, 
+                       t1.cutime - t0.cutime, 
+                       t1.cstime - t0.cstime, 
+                       r1.to_f - r0.to_f,
+                       label)
   end
 
-  def realtime(&blk)
+  #
+  # Returns the elapsed real time used to execute the given block.
+  #
+  def realtime(&blk) # :yield:
     Benchmark::measure(&blk).real
   end
 
+
+
+  #
+  # A Job is a sequence of labelled blocks to be processed by the
+  # Benchmark.bmbm method.  It is of little direct interest to the user.
+  #
   class Job
+    #
+    # Returns an initialized Job instance.
+    # Usually, one doesn't call this method directly, as new
+    # Job objects are created by the #bmbm method.
+    # _width_ is a initial value for the label offset used in formatting;
+    # the #bmbm method passes its _width_ argument to this constructor. 
+    # 
     def initialize(width)
       @width = width
       @list = []
     end
 
-    def item(label = "", &blk)
+    #
+    # Registers the given label and block pair in the job list.
+    #
+    def item(label = "", &blk) # :yield:
       raise ArgmentError, "no block" unless block_given?
       label.concat ' '
       w = label.length
@@ -525,17 +374,40 @@ module Benchmark
     end
 
     alias report item
-    attr_reader :list, :width
+    
+    # An array of 2-element arrays, consisting of label and block pairs.
+    attr_reader :list
+    
+    # Length of the widest label in the #list, plus one.  
+    attr_reader :width
   end
 
   module_function :benchmark, :measure, :realtime, :bm, :bmbm
 
+
+
+  #
+  # This class is used by the Benchmark.benchmark and Benchmark.bm methods.
+  # It is of little direct interest to the user.
+  #
   class Report
+    #
+    # Returns an initialized Report instance.
+    # Usually, one doesn't call this method directly, as new
+    # Report objects are created by the #benchmark and #bm methods. 
+    # _width_ and _fmtstr_ are the label offset and 
+    # format string used by Tms#format. 
+    # 
     def initialize(width = 0, fmtstr = nil)
       @width, @fmtstr = width, fmtstr
     end
 
-    def item(label = "", *fmt, &blk)
+    #
+    # Prints the _label_ and measured time for the block,
+    # formatted by _fmt_. See Tms#format for the
+    # formatting rules.
+    #
+    def item(label = "", *fmt, &blk) # :yield:
       print label.ljust(@width)
       res = Benchmark::measure(&blk)
       print res.format(@fmtstr, *fmt)
@@ -545,21 +417,60 @@ module Benchmark
     alias report item
   end
 
+
+
+  #
+  # A data object, representing the times associated with a benchmark
+  # measurement.
+  #
   class Tms
     CAPTION = "      user     system      total        real\n"
     FMTSTR = "%10.6u %10.6y %10.6t %10.6r\n"
 
-    attr_reader :utime, :stime, :cutime, :cstime, :real, :total, :label
-
+    # User CPU time
+    attr_reader :utime
+    
+    # System CPU time
+    attr_reader :stime
+   
+    # User CPU time of children
+    attr_reader :cutime
+    
+    # System CPU time of children
+    attr_reader :cstime
+    
+    # Elapsed real time
+    attr_reader :real
+    
+    # Total time, that is _utime_ + _stime_ + _cutime_ + _cstime_ 
+    attr_reader :total
+    
+    # Label
+    attr_reader :label
+
+    #
+    # Returns a initialized Tms object which has
+    # _u_ as the user CPU time, _s_ as the system CPU time, 
+    # _cu_ as the childrens' user CPU time, _cs_ as the childrens'
+    # system CPU time, _real_ as the elapsed real time and _l_
+    # as the label. 
+    # 
     def initialize(u = 0.0, s = 0.0, cu = 0.0, cs = 0.0, real = 0.0, l = nil)
       @utime, @stime, @cutime, @cstime, @real, @label = u, s, cu, cs, real, l
       @total = @utime + @stime + @cutime + @cstime
     end
 
-    def add(&blk)
+    # 
+    # Returns a new Tms object whose times are the sum of the times for this
+    # Tms object, plus the time required to execute the code block (_blk_).
+    # 
+    def add(&blk) # :yield:
       self + Benchmark::measure(&blk) 
     end
 
+    # 
+    # An in-place version of #add.
+    # 
     def add!
       t = Benchmark::measure(&blk) 
       @utime  = utime + t.utime
@@ -570,11 +481,51 @@ module Benchmark
       self
     end
 
-    def +(x); memberwise(:+, x) end
-    def -(x); memberwise(:-, x) end
+    # 
+    # Returns a new Tms object obtained by memberwise summation
+    # of the individual times for this Tms object with those of the other
+    # Tms object.
+    # This method and #/() are useful for taking statistics. 
+    # 
+    def +(other); memberwise(:+, other) end
+    
+    #
+    # Returns a new Tms object obtained by memberwise subtraction
+    # of the individual times for the other Tms object from those of this
+    # Tms object.
+    #
+    def -(other); memberwise(:-, other) end
+    
+    #
+    # Returns a new Tms object obtained by memberwise multiplication
+    # of the individual times for this Tms object by _x_.
+    #
     def *(x); memberwise(:*, x) end
+
+    # 
+    # Returns a new Tms object obtained by memberwise division
+    # of the individual times for this Tms object by _x_.
+    # This method and #+() are useful for taking statistics. 
+    # 
     def /(x); memberwise(:/, x) end
 
+    #
+    # Returns the contents of this Tms object as
+    # a formatted string, according to a format string
+    # like that passed to Kernel.format. In addition, #format
+    # accepts the following extensions:
+    #
+    # <tt>%u</tt>::     Replaced by the user CPU time, as reported by Tms#utime.
+    # <tt>%y</tt>::     Replaced by the system CPU time, as reported by #stime (Mnemonic: y of "s*y*stem")
+    # <tt>%U</tt>::     Replaced by the childrens' user CPU time, as reported by Tms#cutime 
+    # <tt>%Y</tt>::     Replaced by the childrens' system CPU time, as reported by Tms#cstime
+    # <tt>%t</tt>::     Replaced by the total CPU time, as reported by Tms#total
+    # <tt>%r</tt>::     Replaced by the elapsed real time, as reported by Tms#real
+    # <tt>%n</tt>::     Replaced by the label string, as reported by Tms#label (Mnemonic: n of "*n*ame")
+    # 
+    # If _fmtstr_ is not given, FMTSTR is used as default value, detailing the
+    # user, system and real elapsed time.
+    # 
     def format(arg0 = nil, *args)
       fmtstr = (arg0 || FMTSTR).dup
       fmtstr.gsub!(/(%[-+\.\d]*)n/){"#{$1}s" % label}
@@ -587,10 +538,19 @@ module Benchmark
       arg0 ? Kernel::format(fmtstr, *args) : fmtstr
     end
 
+    # 
+    # Same as #format.
+    # 
     def to_s
       format
     end
 
+    # 
+    # Returns a new 6-element array, consisting of the
+    # label, user CPU time, system CPU time, childrens'
+    # user CPU time, childrens' system CPU time and elapsed
+    # real time.
+    # 
     def to_a
       [@label, @utime, @stime, @cutime, @cstime, @real]
     end
@@ -599,24 +559,27 @@ module Benchmark
     def memberwise(op, x)
       case x
       when Benchmark::Tms
-	Benchmark::Tms.new(utime.__send__(op, x.utime),
-			   stime.__send__(op, x.stime),
-			   cutime.__send__(op, x.cutime),
-			   cstime.__send__(op, x.cstime),
-			   real.__send__(op, x.real)
-			   )
+        Benchmark::Tms.new(utime.__send__(op, x.utime),
+                           stime.__send__(op, x.stime),
+                           cutime.__send__(op, x.cutime),
+                           cstime.__send__(op, x.cstime),
+                           real.__send__(op, x.real)
+                           )
       else
-	Benchmark::Tms.new(utime.__send__(op, x),
-			   stime.__send__(op, x),
-			   cutime.__send__(op, x),
-			   cstime.__send__(op, x),
-			   real.__send__(op, x)
-			   )
+        Benchmark::Tms.new(utime.__send__(op, x),
+                           stime.__send__(op, x),
+                           cutime.__send__(op, x),
+                           cstime.__send__(op, x),
+                           real.__send__(op, x)
+                           )
       end
     end
   end
 
+  # The default caption string (heading above the output times).
   CAPTION = Benchmark::Tms::CAPTION
+
+  # The default format string used to display times.  See also Benchmark::Tms#format. 
   FMTSTR = Benchmark::Tms::FMTSTR
 end