Benchmark: setAttribute vs classList.add

HTML Preparation code:

<div id="test">Testing</div>

Script Preparation code:

var el = document.getElementById('test');

Tests:

setAttribute
el.setAttribute("class", "class");
classList.add
el.classList.add("class");

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
setAttribute
classList.add

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 7 months ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/139.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 139 on Mac OS X 10.15.7

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
setAttribute	21950630.0 Ops/sec
classList.add	12305418.0 Ops/sec

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

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

I'll break down the benchmark and its various components to help you understand what's being tested.

**Benchmark Overview**

The provided benchmark compares two approaches: setting an attribute using `setAttribute` and adding an element to the class list using `classList.add`. The test is designed to measure which approach is faster in a JavaScript environment.

**Options Compared**

There are two options being compared:

1. **setAttribute**: This method sets the value of a named attribute on an element.
2. **classList.add**: This method adds a class name to an element's class list.

**Pros and Cons of Each Approach**

*   `setAttribute`:
    *   Pros: It is more widely supported across different browsers, as it is part of the DOM specification.
    *   Cons: It might not work exactly as expected in all cases (e.g., when setting a value for an existing attribute), and some features like CSS styles may require additional attributes to be set using `setAttribute`.
*   `classList.add`:
    *   Pros: This method is more modern, widely supported by newer browsers, and avoids potential issues with attribute naming. It's also cleaner and easier to read.
    *   Cons: Older browsers might not support this method or provide different results due to their specific implementations.

**Library Usage**

There is no explicit library mentioned in the benchmark definition. However, `classList` is a standard DOM property that allows you to work with an element's class list. It does not require any additional libraries for its functionality.

**Special JS Features or Syntax**

The only notable feature being tested here is the use of the `classList` property, which has become increasingly common in modern web development due to its benefits over traditional attribute-based approaches.

**Other Alternatives**

If you're interested in alternatives or want to explore other methods:

*   **DOM manipulation APIs**: Some developers might choose to create a custom solution using DOM-specific functions like `createElement`, `setAttribute`, and `removeAttribute`. This approach can be more complicated, but it offers flexibility.
*   **CSS classes and pseudo-classes**: You could use CSS classes and pseudo-classes (like `:nth-child`) to achieve similar results without setting attributes or adding elements. However, this method might not suit all use cases.

Keep in mind that each alternative has its trade-offs in terms of performance, browser support, readability, and maintainability. The choice ultimately depends on the specific requirements and constraints of your project.

Now you have a better understanding of what's being tested in the provided benchmark.

Related benchmarks:

setAttribute vs classList.add (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: setAttribute vs classList.add

Created: one year ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

setAttribute

classList.add

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

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