Benchmark: Math.pow vs ** vs * vs for loop

Tests:

pow
var tmp = Math.pow(6, 21);
**
var tmp = 6 ** 21;
*
var tmp = 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6;
for loop
var tmp = 6; var pow = tmp; for (let i = 21; i > 1; i--) { tmp = tmp * pow; }

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
pow
**
*
for loop

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 2 years ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/119.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 119 on Mac OS X 10.15.7

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
pow	18280768.0 Ops/sec
**	1044220160.0 Ops/sec
*	1030964928.0 Ops/sec
for loop	95104360.0 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.

**Benchmark Overview**

The benchmark compares the performance of four different approaches to calculate the result of `6^21`:

1. **Math.pow**: Using the built-in `Math.pow` function to raise 6 to the power of 21.
2. **** (Exponentiation Operator)**: Using the new exponentiation operator (`**`) introduced in ECMAScript 2016.
3. *** (Multiplication Operator)**: Repeatedly multiplying 6 by itself 21 times.
4. **for loop**: Using a traditional `for` loop to calculate the result.

**Options Compared**

The benchmark compares the performance of these four approaches, which can be described as:

* **Efficiency**: How quickly each approach can produce the result.
* **Readability**: How easy it is to understand and maintain the code using each approach.

**Pros and Cons of Each Approach**

1. **Math.pow**:
	* Pros: Fast and efficient, widely supported by browsers and Node.js.
	* Cons: May not be as readable or intuitive for some developers.
2. **** (Exponentiation Operator)**:
	* Pros: Modern and concise, easy to read and understand.
	* Cons: Not supported in older browsers or versions of JavaScript.
3. *** (Multiplication Operator)**:
	* Pros: Simple and straightforward, can be more readable for some developers.
	* Cons: Slowest approach due to repeated multiplications.
4. **for loop**:
	* Pros: Flexible and customizable, can be used in a variety of situations.
	* Cons: More verbose and less efficient than other approaches.

**Library/Functionality Used**

None of the approaches rely on external libraries or functions, making them suitable for use in various JavaScript environments.

**Special JS Features/Syntax**

The `**` exponentiation operator is a new feature introduced in ECMAScript 2016. It's not supported in older browsers or versions of JavaScript, which is why it's not included in the benchmark result.

**Other Alternatives**

Some other approaches to calculate `6^21` might include:

* Using a library like `mathjs` or `scimath` that provides specialized math functions.
* Implementing a custom exponentiation algorithm using bitwise operations.
* Using a library like `numjs` that provides optimized mathematical functions.

Keep in mind that these alternatives are not part of the standard JavaScript specification and may not be widely supported.

Related benchmarks:

Math.pow vs ** vs * vs for loop (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: pow vs ** vs * vs for loop

Created: 2 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

pow

**

*

for loop

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

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