Benchmark: if vs || - MeasureThat.net

Tests:

if case
const a = "foo"; let b; if (!a) { b = "bar"; }
or case
const a = "foo"; const b = a || "bar";

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
if case
or case

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: one year ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:131.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/131.0

Browser/OS: Firefox 131 on Ubuntu

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
if case	1494478592.0 Ops/sec
or case	1500363776.0 Ops/sec

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated one year ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

### Benchmark Overview

The benchmark defined here compares two different JavaScript approaches for conditional assignment of values: using an `if` statement and using the logical OR (`||`) operator. The goal is to measure which approach performs better in terms of execution speed.

### Options Compared

1. **If Case**
   - **Code**: 
     ```javascript
     const a = "foo";
     let b;

if (!a) {
       b = "bar";
     }
     ```
   - **Description**: This approach uses a standard conditional statement to check if `a` is falsy. If `a` is falsy, `b` is assigned the value "bar". In this case, since `a` is a non-empty string, `b` will remain undefined.

2. **Or Case**
   - **Code**: 
     ```javascript
     const a = "foo";
     const b = a || "bar";
     ```
   - **Description**: This approach uses the logical OR operator. It evaluates `a`; if `a` is truthy (non-empty string, in this case), `b` takes the value of `a`. If `a` were falsy, `b` would be assigned "bar".

### Pros and Cons of Each Approach

#### If Case
- **Pros**:
  - Clear and explicit control flow, making it more understandable for those unfamiliar with less common JavaScript idioms.
  - Allows for more complex conditional logic and statements if needed in the future.
  
- **Cons**:
  - Slightly more verbose and may incur a minor performance overhead compared to the logical operator approach.
  - If the condition it checks does not change often, this can lead to unnecessary checks in performance-critical sections.

#### Or Case
- **Pros**:
  - More concise and can lead to cleaner code, especially when dealing with straightforward fallbacks.
  - In many scenarios, it can be marginally faster since it does not involve the overhead of a conditional jump.
  
- **Cons**:
  - Less explicit when compared to the `if` statement; developers may need to be familiar with the behavior of logical operators in JavaScript.
  - If `a` can sometimes require additional validation or processing, the concise syntax may hide that behavior.

### Execution Results

The benchmark results showed that both approaches delivered high execution speeds, with the `or case` performing slightly better:

- **If Case**: 1,494,478,592.0 executions per second
- **Or Case**: 1,500,363,776.0 executions per second

The `or case` was faster, though both approaches remained efficient.

### Other Considerations

#### Context of Use
- The choice between these two structures may often hinge on the readability and maintainability of the code rather than raw performance, especially in larger applications.
- Use cases may vary: if developers expect various conditions and values to be checked or assigned, the `if` statement provides clarity. Conversely, if defaults are straightforward, the `or` operator is appropriate.

### Alternatives

Other alternatives can be considered depending on the requirements of the code:

1. **Ternary Operator**:
   ```javascript
   const b = a ? a : "bar";
   ```
   This offers a compact form similar to the `if` case.

2. **Nullish Coalescing Operator (`??`)** (ES2020):
   ```javascript
   const b = a ?? "bar";
   ```
   This approach only defaults to "bar" if `a` is `null` or `undefined`, which can be beneficial in cases where falsy values like empty strings or zero should be preserved.

In conclusion, understanding the differences between these coding patterns, along with their performance implications, helps software engineers make informed design choices in their JavaScript programs.

Related benchmarks:

if vs || (version: 1)

Comparing performance of: if case vs or case

Created: one year ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

if case

or case

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated one year ago):