Benchmark: Function vs Eval vs Getter

Script Preparation code:

var fun = function(i) {
	return i;
};

var evalCode = 'i;';

Object.defineProperty(window, 'getterBenchmark', {
	get value() {
		return 'hi';
	}
});

Tests:

Function
for(let i = 0; i < 5; i++) { fun(i); };
Eval
for(let i = 0; i < 5; i++) { eval(evalCode); };
Getter
for(let i = 0; i < 5; i++) { getterBenchmark; };

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
Function
Eval
Getter

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: one year ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/130.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 130 on Mac OS X 10.15.7

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
Function	8632218.0 Ops/sec
Eval	1245728.4 Ops/sec
Getter	4701928.5 Ops/sec

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

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

I'd be happy to help you understand the benchmark.

**Benchmark Overview**

The benchmark compares the speed of three approaches: functions, `eval` expressions, and getters (also known as accessed properties). The test is designed to measure the execution time of each approach on a specific script and HTML setup.

**Script Preparation Code**

The provided script preparation code defines:

1. A function named `fun` that takes an argument `i` and returns its value.
2. An `eval` expression that evaluates the string `'i;'`, effectively returning the value of the variable `i`.
3. A getter property named `getterBenchmark` on the global object (`window`). The getter function returns the string `'hi'`.

**Html Preparation Code**

There is no HTML preparation code provided.

**Individual Test Cases**

Each test case consists of a benchmark definition and a test name:

1. **Function**: This test case defines a loop that calls the `fun` function five times, passing the argument `i`.
2. **Eval**: This test case defines a loop that evaluates the `evalCode` expression three times, effectively calling the `fun` function three times.
3. **Getter**: This test case simply calls the getter property `getterBenchmark` five times.

**Approach Comparison**

The benchmark compares the speed of each approach:

* Functions: The `fun` function is defined explicitly, which can lead to better optimization and caching.
* `eval`: `eval` expressions can be slow because they involve parsing and executing arbitrary code at runtime. However, modern engines often optimize `eval` usage.
* Getters: Accessing properties through getters can be faster than calling functions or using `eval`, as the browser can cache and reuse the getter function.

**Pros and Cons**

* Functions:
	+ Pros: Better optimization, caching, and performance.
	+ Cons: May require more memory to store the function.
* `eval`:
	+ Pros: Can be useful for dynamic code evaluation or executing user-supplied code.
	+ Cons: Generally slower than functions and getters due to parsing and execution overhead.
* Getters:
	+ Pros: Faster than functions and `eval`, with potential caching benefits.
	+ Cons: May require more memory to store the getter property.

**Library**

None of the test cases use any external libraries. The script preparation code defines the three approaches independently, while the HTML preparation code is not provided.

**Special JS Features or Syntax**

There are no special JavaScript features or syntax used in this benchmark.

**Other Alternatives**

If you were to rewrite this benchmark, you might consider using alternative approaches:

* Use a loop instead of `for` loops for more control over iteration.
* Add error handling and boundary checking to test edge cases.
* Compare additional functions or algorithms to gain further insights into performance differences.
* Measure the impact of caching, memoization, or other optimization techniques on each approach.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions or need further clarification!

Related benchmarks:

Function vs Eval vs Getter (version: 0)

Compares the speed of functions, evals and Getters.

Comparing performance of: Function vs Eval vs Getter

Created: 4 years ago by: Registered User

Jump to the latest result

Function

Eval

Getter

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

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