Benchmark: Number constructor vs naive compare

Script Preparation code:

var a = true; var b = false;

Tests:

naive compare
const result = (a === b ? 0 : a < b ? -1 : 1);
Number constructor
Number(a) - Number(b)

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
naive compare
Number constructor

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/126.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 126 on Linux

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
naive compare	2681516.5 Ops/sec
Number constructor	1867693.5 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 definition and test cases.

**Benchmark Definition**

The benchmark definition is a JSON object that contains information about the benchmark to be performed. The relevant details are:

* `Name`: A unique name for the benchmark.
* `Description`: An optional description of the benchmark, which is not filled in this case.
* `Script Preparation Code`: A snippet of JavaScript code that is executed before running the benchmark. In this case, it initializes two boolean variables, `a` and `b`, to `true` and `false`, respectively.
* `Html Preparation Code`: An optional HTML code that can be used to prepare the page for the benchmark, which is not required in this case.

**Individual Test Cases**

There are two test cases:

1. **Naive Compare**
The first test case uses the following JavaScript code:
```javascript
const result = (a === b ? 0 : a < b ? -1 : 1);
```
This code compares the values of `a` and `b` using the `===` operator, which checks for both equality and type. If they are equal, it returns 0. If `a` is less than `b`, it returns -1. Otherwise, it returns 1.

Pros:

* Simple and easy to understand.
* Directly compares values without creating unnecessary objects or functions.

Cons:

* May involve additional overhead due to the comparison operation.

2. **Number Constructor**
The second test case uses the following JavaScript code:
```javascript
Number(a) - Number(b)
```
This code converts `a` and `b` to numbers using the `Number()` constructor and then subtracts one from the other.

Pros:

* Uses a well-defined and standardized function for converting values to numbers.
* Can be optimized by the engine, as it's a built-in operator.

Cons:

* May incur additional overhead due to the creation of temporary objects or functions.
* The engine may not optimize this expression as much as the simple comparison in the first test case.

**Libraries and Special Features**

There are no libraries used in these benchmark definitions. However, the `Number()` constructor is a built-in JavaScript function that's widely supported by most browsers and engines.

**Other Considerations**

The use of `===` for comparison in the first test case may be considered less efficient than using the `Number()` constructor in the second test case. This is because `===` involves additional operations to check both equality and type, whereas the `Number()` constructor can be optimized by the engine to directly convert values to numbers.

**Alternatives**

Other alternatives for comparing values could include:

* Using `if (a < b) { ... } else if (b < a) { ... }` or similar constructs to avoid relying on the `===` operator.
* Implementing custom comparison functions using JavaScript's `Function()` constructor and `apply()`.
* Utilizing libraries like Lodash or Ramda for functional programming and comparisons.

However, these alternatives may introduce additional complexity and overhead, making them less suitable for benchmarking purposes.

Related benchmarks:

Number constructor vs naive compare (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: naive compare vs Number constructor

Created: one year ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

naive compare

Number constructor

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

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