Benchmark: Math.pow(x,0.5) vs Math.sqrt(x) vs ** 0.5

Script Preparation code:

var numbers = Array.from(Array(10000), (_,x) => (Math.random()*x));

Tests:

Math.sqrt
numbers.forEach(x => Math.sqrt(x));
sqrt with Math.pow
numbers.forEach(x => Math.pow(x,0.5));
sqrt with ** 0.5
numbers.forEach(x => x ** 0.5);

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
Math.sqrt
sqrt with Math.pow
sqrt with ** 0.5

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

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

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/124.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 Edg/124.0.0.0

Browser/OS: Chrome 124 on Windows

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
Math.sqrt	1478.8 Ops/sec
sqrt with Math.pow	1514.9 Ops/sec
sqrt with ** 0.5	122012.0 Ops/sec

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

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

The provided JSON represents a JavaScript benchmarking test on the MeasureThat.net website. The purpose of this benchmark is to compare the performance of three different methods for calculating the square root of a number: `Math.pow(x, 0.5)`, `Math.sqrt(x)`, and `x ** 0.5`.

**Option Comparison**

The three options are compared in the following ways:

1. **Method**: Each option uses a different method to calculate the square root.
2. **Library Usage**: Only the first option (`numbers.forEach(x => Math.sqrt(x))`) uses a library function, which is part of the JavaScript standard library (`Math.sqrt`).
3. **Syntax**: Two options use a syntax with the exponentiation operator (`**`), while one option uses the `Math.pow()` function.

**Pros and Cons**

Here are some pros and cons for each option:

1. **Method: Math.sqrt(x)**
	* Pros: Native JavaScript function, fast execution.
	* Cons: Requires a library function call, which may incur overhead.
2. **Method: x ** 0.5**
	* Pros: Simple syntax, native JavaScript operator.
	* Cons: May be slower than `Math.pow()` or `Math.sqrt()`, as it uses exponentiation instead of division.
3. **Method: Math.pow(x, 0.5)**
	* Pros: Fast execution, can be optimized by browsers.
	* Cons: Uses a library function call (`Math.pow()`), which may incur overhead.

**Other Considerations**

1. **Library Usage**: The use of `Math.sqrt` as a library function may affect the overall performance of the benchmark. However, in modern JavaScript engines, this should not have significant impact.
2. **Syntax and Readability**: The syntax used for each option affects readability and maintainability of the code.

**Alternative Options**

If you want to explore alternative options, here are a few ideas:

1. Use a third-party library like `fast-expm` or `exponentiation` to calculate the square root.
2. Implement a custom square root algorithm using bitwise operations.
3. Compare the performance of different programming languages (e.g., Python, C++) for calculating square roots.

Keep in mind that these alternatives may not be relevant to your specific use case and might introduce additional complexity.

Related benchmarks:

Math.pow(x,0.5) vs Math.sqrt(x) vs ** 0.5 (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: Math.sqrt vs sqrt with Math.pow vs sqrt with ** 0.5

Created: 2 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

Math.sqrt

sqrt with Math.pow

sqrt with ** 0.5

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

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