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switch vs if
(version: 0)
Comparing performance of:
switch vs if
Created:
7 years ago
by:
Guest
Jump to the latest result
HTML Preparation code:
<div class="test"></div>
Script Preparation code:
var v = 8;
Tests:
switch
switch (v) { case 1: break; case 2: break; case 3: break; case 4: break; case 5: break; case 6: break; case 7: break; default: ; }
if
if (v === 1) { } else if (v === 2) { } else if (v === 3) { } else if (v === 4) { } else if (v === 5) { } else if (v === 6) { } else if (v === 7) { } else if (v === 8) { } else { }
Rendered benchmark preparation results:
Suite status:
<idle, ready to run>
Run tests (2)
Previous results
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Test case name
Result
switch
if
Fastest:
N/A
Slowest:
N/A
Latest run results:
Run details:
(Test run date:
one month ago
)
User agent:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:149.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/149.0
Browser/OS:
Firefox 149 on Windows
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Test name
Executions per second
switch
790432512.0 Ops/sec
if
112640912.0 Ops/sec
Autogenerated LLM Summary
(model
llama3.2:3b
, generated one year ago):
Let's break down the benchmark and explain what's being tested, compared, and the pros/cons of each approach. **Benchmark Definition** The benchmark is comparing two ways to handle conditional logic in JavaScript: `switch` statements and `if` statements with multiple `else if` conditions. The test case uses a variable `v` initialized to 8. **Script Preparation Code** ```javascript var v = 8; ``` This code initializes the variable `v` to 8, which will be used as input for both `switch` and `if` statements. **Html Preparation Code** ```html <div class="test"></div> ``` This is just a placeholder HTML element, not relevant to the JavaScript benchmark itself. **Individual Test Cases** There are two test cases: 1. **Switch Statement** ```javascript switch (v) { case 1: break; case 2: break; // ... up to v = 7 default: ; // do nothing } ``` This is a straightforward `switch` statement that checks the value of `v` against a series of cases. If `v` matches any of the cases, the corresponding code is executed. 2. **If-Else If Statement** ```javascript if (v === 1) { // ... } else if (v === 2) { // ... } else if (v === 3) { // ... } else if (v === 4) { // ... } else if (v === 5) { // ... } else if (v === 6) { // ... } else if (v === 7) { // ... } else if (v === 8) { // ... } else { ; // do nothing } ``` This is a chain of `if` statements with multiple `else if` conditions. Each condition checks the value of `v` and executes the corresponding code. **Comparison** The benchmark compares the execution time of these two approaches for each test case. The raw data shows that: * For the `switch` statement, Chrome 126 on a desktop platform executed approximately 162,819,232 instructions per second. * For the `if-else if` statement, Chrome 126 on a desktop platform executed approximately 2,334,355 instructions per second. **Pros and Cons** **Switch Statement:** Pros: * Can be faster for small number of cases (since it uses a jump table lookup) * Can be more concise Cons: * Requires compile-time setup (i.e., the `case` values need to be known at compile time) **If-Else If Statement:** Pros: * More flexible and can handle any number of conditions * Does not require compile-time setup Cons: * Can be slower due to the overhead of multiple conditional checks * Can be more verbose **Other Considerations** In general, `switch` statements are preferred when you have a small, fixed set of cases that can be known at compile time. For larger numbers of cases or dynamic conditions, `if-else if` statements may be more suitable. It's also worth noting that modern JavaScript engines often optimize away unnecessary branches and use techniques like inlining and caching to improve performance. **Alternatives** Other approaches to handling conditional logic include: * **Object-based conditionals**: Instead of using `switch` or `if`, you can use an object with property names corresponding to the conditions. * **Ternary operators**: A single expression that evaluates to a value based on a condition, e.g., `v === 1 ? 'value if true' : 'value if false'`. * **Function-based conditionals**: Using functions to encapsulate the logic for each case. However, these alternatives may not be as straightforward or well-supported by older JavaScript engines.
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