Performance Metrics for Cryptographic Operations in React Native

[Marko Ivankovic]

Environment

• React Native Quick Crypto Version: 0.6.1
• Paillier-BigInt Version: 3.4.3
• React Version: 18.2.0
• React Native Version: 0.73.3
• Expo Version: ~50.0.6
• Platform: iOS

Description

I am utilizing react-native-quick-crypto for cryptographic operations in a React Native project, specifically working with paillier-bigint for encryption and decryption. I have observed the following performance metrics:

• Encryption Time: Approximately 3.3 seconds for 2048-bit keys
• Decryption Time: Approximately 2 seconds for 2048-bit keys

In contrast, when testing paillier-bigint in a Node.js environment (without react-native-quick-crypto), the execution times were significantly lower:

• Encryption Time: 35 ms
• Decryption Time: 25 ms

Questions

1. Are the execution times observed in the React Native environment typical for cryptographic operations with react-native-quick-crypto?
2. Given the stark difference in performance compared to a Node.js environment, could there be any potential optimizations, configurations, or issues affecting react-native-quick-crypto performance?

Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure react-native-quick-crypto following the official documentation.
2. Implement encryption and decryption using paillier-bigint.
3. Measure the execution time for these operations in both React Native (with react-native-quick-crypto) and a standalone Node.js environment.

I am seeking guidance on whether the observed performance in the React Native environment is expected, and if not, any recommendations for improving these execution times would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Timothy Shamilov]

I would suggest running RN dev tools + benchmarking and see which functions are taking the most time. You'll have to find a guide on how to do it. That way you can make an informed decision as to what's causing this. Generally I doubt it's this lib, since this lib just exposes openSSL and binds to it from the JS engine.