Benchmark: Lodash.isEqual vs JSON.stringify Equality Comparison for array of objects with nested properties and few records

HTML Preparation code:

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lodash@4.17.4/lodash.min.js"></script>

Script Preparation code:

window.foo = [{accessPath: 'derp.merp', ancestors: ['blah', 'blah']}, {accessPath: 'merp', ancestors: ['blah', 'merp']}, {accessPath: 'derp', ancestors: ['blah', 'derp']}];
window.bar = [{accessPath: 'derp.merp', ancestors: ['blah', 'blah']}, {accessPath: 'merp', ancestors: ['blah', 'merp']}, {accessPath: 'derp', ancestors: ['blah', 'changed']}];

Tests:

_.isEqual
_.isEqual(window.foo, window.bar)
JSON.stringify
JSON.stringify(window.foo) === JSON.stringify(window.bar);

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
_.isEqual
JSON.stringify

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

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Autogenerated LLM Summary (model llama3.2:3b, generated one year ago):

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Let's break down the provided benchmark and explain what is being tested, compared, and the pros/cons of each approach.

**Benchmark Overview**

The benchmark compares the performance of two approaches to equality comparison for arrays of objects with nested properties:

1. Using `lodash.isEqual` (from the Lodash library)
2. Using `JSON.stringify` followed by a strict comparison (`===`)

**Lodash.isEqual**

* **Library:** Lodash is a popular JavaScript utility library that provides various functions for common programming tasks, including equality checks.
* **Purpose:** `_.isEqual` is used to compare two values for deep equality, taking into account nested properties and arrays.
* **Pros:**
	+ Provides a robust and flexible way to compare complex objects
	+ Handles arrays and nested objects with ease
* **Cons:**
	+ May be slower than other approaches due to its feature-rich implementation
	+ Requires an external library (Lodash) to be included

**JSON.stringify**

* **Purpose:** `JSON.stringify` converts a JavaScript object into a JSON string, which can then be compared for equality using the `===` operator.
* **Pros:**
	+ Fast and efficient, as it leverages native JavaScript capabilities
	+ Does not require an external library
* **Cons:**
	+ May not handle arrays or nested objects correctly (specifically, circular references)
	+ Requires manual handling of array and object properties to ensure correct comparison

**Comparison**

The benchmark tests both approaches on the provided test case:

`window.foo` is an array of objects with nested properties:
```json
[
  { accessPath: 'derp.merp', ancestors: ['blah', 'blah'] },
  { accessPath: 'merp', ancestors: ['blah', 'merp'] },
  { accessPath: 'derp', ancestors: ['blah', 'derp'] }
]
```

`window.bar` is another array of objects with nested properties:
```json
[
  { accessPath: 'derp.merp', ancestors: ['blah', 'blah'] },
  { accessPath: 'merp', ancestors: ['blah', 'merp'] },
  { accessPath: 'derp', ancestors: ['blah', 'changed'] }
]
```

The `JSON.stringify` approach will fail to correctly compare these arrays due to the presence of arrays and nested objects, while `lodash.isEqual` should handle this case correctly.

**Other Alternatives**

* **Object.equals**: This is a built-in JavaScript function that can be used for equality comparison. However, it may not handle arrays or nested objects as robustly as `_.isEqual`.
* **Custom implementation**: A custom implementation using recursive functions to compare each property of the objects could also be used. However, this approach would likely be more verbose and error-prone than using a library like Lodash.

In summary, the benchmark tests the performance of two approaches for equality comparison: `lodash.isEqual` (with its robust handling of arrays and nested objects) and `JSON.stringify` (with its fast but less robust implementation).

Related benchmarks:

Lodash.isEqual vs JSON.stringify Equality Comparison for array of objects with nested properties and few records (version: 0)

Test on isEqual performance

Comparing performance of: _.isEqual vs JSON.stringify

Created: 4 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

_.isEqual

JSON.stringify

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

No previous run results

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model llama3.2:3b, generated one year ago):