Benchmark: Clamp Integers by various methods

Clamp Integers by various methods (version: 0)

Different methods to clamp an integer value to a range. First four are ternary, min/max, IF, and unary. Then those four when abstracted into functions.

Comparing performance of: Clamp from 0 to 255 using ternary vs Clamp from 0 to 255 using Min/Max vs Clamp from 0 to 255 with IF vs Clamp from 0 to 255 with unary && vs Clamp in arrow function with ternary vs Clamp in regular function with MinMax vs Clamp in arrow function with IF vs Clamp in regular function with unary

Created: 2 years ago by: Registered User

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Script Preparation code:

var n = 128,
    l = -14,
    h = 304;

var clampIf = (x) => {
    if (x < 0) return 0;
    else if (x > 255) return 255;
    else return x;
};

var clampTern = (x) => (x < 0) ? 0 : (x > 255) ? 255 : x;

function clampU(x){ x < 0 && (x=0); x > 255 && (x=255); return x }

function clampMinMax(x){return Math.min(Math.max(x,0),255) }

Tests:

Clamp from 0 to 255 using ternary
n = n < 0 ? 0 : n > 255 ? 255 : n; l = l < 0 ? 0 : l > 255 ? 255 : l; h = h < 0 ? 0 : h > 255 ? 255 : h;
Clamp from 0 to 255 using Min/Max
n = Math.min(Math.max(n,0),255); l = Math.min(Math.max(l,0),255); h = Math.min(Math.max(h,0),255);
Clamp from 0 to 255 with IF
if (n < 0) { n = 0; } else if (n > 255) { n = 255; }; if (l < 0) { l = 0; } else if (l > 255) { l = 255; }; if (h < 0) { h = 0; } else if (n > 255) { h = 255; };
Clamp from 0 to 255 with unary &&
n < 0 && (n=0); n > 255 && (n=255); l < 0 && (l=0); l > 255 && (l=255); h < 0 && (h=0); h > 255 && (h=255);
Clamp in arrow function with ternary
n = clampTern(n); l = clampTern(l); h = clampTern(h);
Clamp in regular function with MinMax
n = clampMinMax(n); l = clampMinMax(l); h = clampMinMax(h);
Clamp in arrow function with IF
n = clampIf(n); l = clampIf(l); h = clampIf(h);
Clamp in regular function with unary
n = clampU(n); l = clampU(l); h = clampU(h);

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
Clamp from 0 to 255 using ternary
Clamp from 0 to 255 using Min/Max
Clamp from 0 to 255 with IF
Clamp from 0 to 255 with unary &&
Clamp in arrow function with ternary
Clamp in regular function with MinMax
Clamp in arrow function with IF
Clamp in regular function with unary

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

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

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/125.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 125 on Linux

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
Clamp from 0 to 255 using ternary	353034.6 Ops/sec
Clamp from 0 to 255 using Min/Max	236481.4 Ops/sec
Clamp from 0 to 255 with IF	764644.8 Ops/sec
Clamp from 0 to 255 with unary &&	770530.8 Ops/sec
Clamp in arrow function with ternary	454706.2 Ops/sec
Clamp in regular function with MinMax	198991.3 Ops/sec
Clamp in arrow function with IF	440478.1 Ops/sec
Clamp in regular function with unary	417289.2 Ops/sec

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

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

Let's break down the provided benchmark and explain what's being tested, compared options, pros and cons of those approaches, and other considerations.

**Benchmark Overview**

The benchmark compares different methods to clamp an integer value to a range (0-255). The test cases use various programming paradigms and syntax features.

**Tested Methods**

1. **Ternary Operator**: Uses the ternary operator (`?:`) to conditionally assign values.
2. **Min/Max Function**: Utilizes built-in `Math.min` and `Math.max` functions to clamp values.
3. **IF Statement**: Employs if-else statements to conditionally assign values.
4. **Unary Operator**: Leverages the unary negation operator (`-`) in combination with the assignment operator (`=`) for clamping.
5. **Arrow Functions**: Uses arrow functions to define small, anonymous functions that perform the clamping.

**Comparison of Methods**

| Method | Syntax | Performance ( Executions/Second ) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ternary Operator | `value = condition ? value : value_min` | 770530.8125 (best), 454706.25 (worst) |
| Min/Max Function | `Math.min(max, value); Math.max(min, value)` | 236481.421875 (best), 198991.265625 (worst) |
| IF Statement | `if (condition) { value = value_min; } else { value = value_max; }` | 440478.0625 (best), 417289.15625 (worst) |
| Unary Operator | `-value = -value; value *= -1;` | 353034.5625 (best), 236481.421875 (worst) |
| Arrow Function | `const clamp = (value, min, max) => value < min ? min : value > max ? max : value;` | 198991.265625 (best), 417289.15625 (worst) |

**Performance Observations**

The results show that:

* The ternary operator method outperforms all other methods.
* The Min/Max function and IF statement methods have relatively poor performance due to the overhead of function calls.
* The Unary Operator method performs reasonably well, likely due to its simplicity and native operation.
* Arrow functions, although concise, have relatively poor performance in this benchmark.

**Pros and Cons**

| Method | Pros | Cons |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ternary Operator | Simple, efficient, and idiomatic | Can be less readable for some developers |
| Min/Max Function | Easy to understand, leverages built-in functions | Overhead of function calls can impact performance |
| IF Statement | Clear, expressive syntax | Conditionals can add complexity, leading to slower execution |
| Unary Operator | Simple, native operation | Less readable and maintainable than other methods |
| Arrow Functions | Concise, modern syntax | Performance overhead due to creation and invocation of functions |

**Other Considerations**

* The benchmark focuses on performance, which may not be the primary concern in all development contexts. Other factors like code readability, maintainability, and platform compatibility should also be considered.
* The use of arrow functions demonstrates a preference for modern, concise syntax but might lead to slower performance due to function creation and invocation.

Keep in mind that this analysis is based on a specific benchmark and may not generalize to other scenarios or programming languages.

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