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261 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
261 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Comparing Alternatives to top Written in Rust"
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date = 2020-03-21T10:45:00+11:00
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[extra]
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updated = 2020-03-27T21:53:53+11:00
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+++
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Recently I aliased `top` to [ytop]. Then I became aware of [bottom], and
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[zenith]. These are all terminal based system monitoring tools that you might
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use instead of `top`. In this post I set out to compare them.
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{{ figure(image="posts/2020/rust-top-alternatives/ytop-btm-zenith-screenshot.png", link="posts/2020/rust-top-alternatives/ytop-btm-zenith-screenshot.png", alt="Screenshot of ytop, bottom, and zenith while building some Rust code", caption="Left to right: ytop, bottom, and zenith.") }}
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<!-- more -->
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{% aside(title="Why Rust?", float="right") %}
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The Rust programming language helps people write efficient, reliable software.
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I like the language and the tools people are
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building with it.
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If you're interested in more Rust CLI tools check out my
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post: [An Illustrated Guide to Some Useful Command Line
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Tools](https://www.wezm.net/technical/2019/10/useful-command-line-tools/).
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{% end %}
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As the title states all three tools are written in Rust. They show similar
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information and are all open source under the MIT license. I tested each one
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on: Arch Linux, FreeBSD 12.1, macOS Mojave, and Windows 10. At the time of
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testing, all three failed to build on FreeBSD and Windows. Figures below are
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from the Arch Linux system, which is a [12 core AMD Ryzen desktop PC][ryzen-pc].
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`ytop` and `bottom` use a layout that appears to be inspired by [gotop]. In
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fact, `ytop` is written by the same person as `gotop`. `zenith` uses a layout
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that's a bit more like traditional `top` with histograms above the process
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list.
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I typically use `top` to:
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* Check on overall system load and free memory.
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* Find specific processes that are using a lot of CPU or memory.
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* Observe CPU and memory use over time.
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* Occasionally kill processes.
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I find the `zenith` layout more information dense, with less space taken up
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with graphs. I also like the header row with info and help. The main feature
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that it is missing compared to the others is temperatures — but that's in the
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list of planned features. ~~There is one issue with `zenith`: it doesn't show my
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ZFS pool. My system has an NVMe system disk and a ZFS pool of 3 SSDs that is
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mounted as `/home`, which is absent in the disk summary. I've raised [an issue
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on GitHub][zenith-zfs].~~
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**Update 27 March 2020:** Zenith 0.7.7 now shows ZFS pools.
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The individual lines for each CPU in `bottom` makes the display quite noisy. I
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prefer the aggregated line that `ytop` shows. `ytop` has a handy `-m` option
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to only show CPU, memory, and process list.
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So, after reviewing them all I'm going to start using `zenith`. It might not
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be quite as pretty in screenshots but it's the best for doing this things
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I want to do with a `top` like tool.
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Read on for further information about each tool, including an additional
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honorable mention, [bb].
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### bottom
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[Repository][bottom]
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**Version tested:** 0.2.2
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**Runtime dependencies:** None
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**Lines of code:** 4894
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**Cargo dependencies:** 109
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**Stripped binary size:** 3.4MiB
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`bottom` has `vi` style key bindings for navigating the process list. The
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selection is not stable across updates but there is a key binding, `f` to
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freeze the display that allows you navigate the list without it changing. It
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supports killing processes with `dd` but does not prompt for the signal to
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send. It shows a confirmation before killing the process.
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**Usage:**
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bottom 0.2.2
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Clement Tsang <cjhtsang@uwaterloo.ca>
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A cross-platform graphical process/system monitor with a customizable interface and a multitude of features. Supports
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Linux, macOS, and Windows.
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USAGE:
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btm [FLAGS] [OPTIONS]
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FLAGS:
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-a, --avg_cpu Enables showing the average CPU usage.
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-S, --case_sensitive Match case when searching by default.
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-c, --celsius Sets the temperature type to Celsius. This is the default option.
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--cpu_default Selects the CPU widget to be selected by default.
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--disk_default Selects the disk widget to be selected by default.
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-m, --dot_marker Use a dot marker instead of the default braille marker.
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-f, --fahrenheit Sets the temperature type to Fahrenheit.
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-g, --group Groups processes with the same name together on launch.
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-k, --kelvin Sets the temperature type to Kelvin.
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-l, --left_legend Puts external chart legends on the left side rather than the default right side.
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--memory_default Selects the memory widget to be selected by default.
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--network_default Selects the network widget to be selected by default.
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--process_default Selects the process widget to be selected by default. This is the default if nothing
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is set.
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-R, --regex Use regex in searching by default.
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-s, --show_disabled_data Show disabled data entries.
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--temperature_default Selects the temp widget to be selected by default.
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-u, --current_usage Within Linux, sets a process' CPU usage to be based on the total current CPU usage,
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rather than assuming 100% usage.
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-W, --whole_word Match whole word when searching by default.
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-h, --help Prints help information
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-V, --version Prints version information
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OPTIONS:
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-C, --config <CONFIG_LOCATION> Sets the location of the config file. Expects a config file in the TOML format.
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-r, --rate <RATE_MILLIS> Sets a refresh rate in milliseconds; the minimum is 250ms, defaults to 1000ms.
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Smaller values may take more resources.
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### ytop
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[Repository][ytop]
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**Version tested:** 0.5.1
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**Runtime dependencies:** None
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**Lines of code:** 1903
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**Cargo dependencies:** 89
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**Stripped binary size:** 2.1MiB
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`ytop` has `vi` style key bindings for navigating the process list. The
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selection remains on the same process across updates. It supports killing
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processes with `dd` but does not prompt for the signal to send. There is
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no confirmation when typing `dd`.
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**Usage:**
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ytop 0.5.1
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USAGE:
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ytop [FLAGS] [OPTIONS]
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FLAGS:
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-a, --average-cpu Show average CPU in the CPU widget
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-b, --battery Show Battery widget (overridden by 'minimal' flag)
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-f, --fahrenheit Show temperatures in fahrenheit
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-h, --help Prints help information
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-m, --minimal Only show the CPU, Mem, and Process widgets
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-p, --per-cpu Show each CPU in the CPU widget
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-s, --statusbar Show a statusbar with the time
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-V, --version Prints version information
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OPTIONS:
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-c, --colorscheme <colorscheme> Set a colorscheme [default: default]
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-i, --interface <interface> The name of the network interface to show in the Net widget. 'all' shows all
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interfaces [default: all]
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-I, --interval <interval> Interval in seconds between updates of the CPU and Mem widgets. Can specify
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either a whole number or a fraction with a numerator of 1 [default: 1]
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### zenith
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[Repository][zenith]
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**Version tested:** 0.7.5
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**Runtime dependencies:** None
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**Lines of code:** 2006
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**Cargo dependencies:** 105
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**Stripped binary size:** 2.6MiB
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`zenith` has a small number of key bindings for changing the panes. You can
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navigate the process list with the arrow keys. The selection is not stable
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across updates but the default update frequency is 2 seconds. Pressing Enter on
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process shows expanded information about it and allows you to send it various
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signals:
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**Usage:**
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zenith 0.7.5
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Benjamin Vaisvil <ben@neuon.com>
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Zenith, sort of like top but with histograms.
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Up/down arrow keys move around the process table. Return (enter) will focus on a process.
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Tab switches the active section. Active sections can be expanded (e) and minimized (m).
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Using this you can create the layout you want.
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USAGE:
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zenith [FLAGS] [OPTIONS]
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FLAGS:
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--disable-history Disables history when flag is present
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-h, --help Prints help information
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-V, --version Prints version information
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OPTIONS:
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-c, --cpu-height <INT> Height of CPU/Memory visualization. [default: 10]
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--db <STRING> Database to use, if any. [default: /home/wmoore/.zenith]
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-d, --disk-height <INT> Height of Disk visualization. [default: 10]
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-n, --net-height <INT> Height of Network visualization. [default: 10]
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-p, --process-height <INT> Min Height of Process Table. [default: 8]
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-r, --refresh-rate <INT> Refresh rate in milliseconds. [default: 2000]
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### bb
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[Repository][bb]
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**Version tested:** git 35c3017
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**Runtime dependencies:** None
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**Lines of code:** 8450
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**Cargo dependencies:** 27
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**Stripped binary size:** 534KiB
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`bb` is closer to regular `top` than the other tools. It shows a CPU histograms
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and a process list. It has the best process view though, allowing sending all
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named signals, filtering the list by name or pid, toggleable tree view and
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following a process group. It also has the fewest crate dependencies and
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smallest binary. The drawback is the author describes it as, "a "weekend"
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side-project made for fun", and it hasn't seen any updates since Nov 2019.
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**Usage:**
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`bb` does not have any command line arguments.
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### Test Notes
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The dependency count was calculated using [cargo-tree] as follows:
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cargo tree --no-dev-dependencies --no-indent -q | sed 's/ (\*)$//' | sort -u | wc -l
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The lines of code values were calculated using [tokei]. The value of the Code
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column in the Total row from the output of `tokei src` was used. E.g. 2372 in
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the output below:
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Language Files Lines Code Comments Blanks
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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JSON 5 105 105 0 0
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Markdown 2 231 231 0 0
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Rust 18 2404 2001 87 316
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TOML 2 39 35 2 2
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Total 27 2779 2372 89 318
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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[ytop]: https://github.com/cjbassi/ytop
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[bottom]: https://github.com/ClementTsang/bottom
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[zenith]: https://github.com/bvaisvil/zenith
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[gotop]: https://github.com/cjbassi/gotop
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[zenith-zfs]: https://github.com/bvaisvil/zenith/issues/9
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[ryzen-pc]: https://bitcannon.net/page/ryzen9-pc/
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[cargo-tree]: https://github.com/sfackler/cargo-tree
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[tokei]: https://github.com/XAMPPRocky/tokei
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[bb]: https://github.com/epilys/bb
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