Benchmark: Ternary operator VS Multi-assign VS Function call

Script Preparation code:

const n = Math.random() * 1000;

Tests:

Ternary
const t1 = n < 750 ? n < 500 ? n < 250 ? 0 : 1 : 2 : 3;
Assign
if ( n < 250 ) { const t2 = 0 } else if ( n < 500 ) { const t2 = 1 } else if ( n < 750 ) { const t2 = 2 } else { const t2 = 3 }
Function
const t3 = (n=>{ if ( n < 250 ) return 0; if ( n < 500 ) return 1; if ( n < 750 ) return 2; return 3; })(n);
Simple
const t4 = parseInt( n % 250 );

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
Ternary
Assign
Function
Simple

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 29 days ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS x86_64 14541.0.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/126.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 126 on Chrome OS 14541.0.0

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
Ternary	43662144.0 Ops/sec
Assign	43712152.0 Ops/sec
Function	48912936.0 Ops/sec
Simple	26153862.0 Ops/sec

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated 29 days ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

The benchmark you've provided evaluates the performance of four different approaches in JavaScript to determine a value based on the input variable \( n \), which is randomly assigned between 0 and 1000. These approaches pertain to conditionally assigning a value based on multiple comparison thresholds. The following options are tested:

1. **Ternary Operator** - `const t1 = n < 750 ? n < 500 ? n < 250 ? 0 : 1 : 2 : 3;`
2. **Multi-assign Using If-Else** - 
   ```javascript
   if ( n < 250 ) { const t2 = 0 }
   else if ( n < 500 ) { const t2 = 1 }
   else if ( n < 750 ) { const t2 = 2 }
   else { const t2 = 3 }
   ```
3. **Function Call** - 
   ```javascript
   const t3 = (n => {
       if ( n < 250 ) return 0;
       if ( n < 500 ) return 1;
       if ( n < 750 ) return 2;
       return 3;
   })(n);
   ```
4. **Simple Modulus Calculation** - `const t4 = parseInt(n % 250);`

### Comparison of Options

#### 1. Ternary Operator
- **Pros**: 
  - Compact syntax suitable for simple conditions, making the code tidy and challenging to misinterpret.
  - Often, it is optimized by modern JavaScript engines, which can lead to better performance in certain cases.
- **Cons**: 
  - Can become unreadable and complex for many nested conditions.
  - Debugging can be more challenging as the flow can be less clear compared to standard control structures.

#### 2. Multi-assign Using If-Else
- **Pros**:
  - Offers clarity, as the flow of control is easily understood and straightforward.
  - Scalability for future conditions; it's easier to maintain and refactor.
- **Cons**: 
  - Verbose, potentially leading to more lines of code.
  - Generally slower for performance because of multiple condition checks in a linear fashion.

#### 3. Function Call
- **Pros**: 
  - Encapsulates the logic within a function, promoting reusability and separation of concerns.
  - Easier to modify if changes are needed, without affecting other parts of the code.
- **Cons**:
  - Involves the overhead of function calls, which may impact performance in tight loops or scenarios with many calls.
  - Slightly less readable than the straightforward if-else blocks for those unfamiliar with using immediately invoked function expressions (IIFE).

#### 4. Simple Modulus Calculation
- **Pros**: 
  - Extremely compact and very fast; only one mathematical operation is performed.
  - Simple to understand and requires minimal code.
- **Cons**:
  - This approach only marginally resembles the intended functionality of conditional value assignment.
  - May provide unexpected outputs due to the way modulus works, such as only giving values that are within 0 to 249.

### Performance Results
The benchmark results suggest that the execution speed of these methods differs significantly based on how the logic is structured. The results show:

- The **Function call** performs the best with **48,753,168 executions per second**.
- The **Ternary operator** is close behind with **44,771,520 executions per second**.
- The **If-Else multi-assign** approach is slightly less performant but still comparable at **44,598,392 executions per second**.
- The **Simple modulus calculation** is the slowest at **28,664,034 executions per second** but is not designed for the desired output.

### Alternatives
Other alternatives include using switch-case statements, object lookups, or simplifying logic using mathematical transformations, depending on the specific use case. Using libraries or frameworks (like Lodash for functional programming) could create more abstract, reusable solutions but may introduce additional overhead.

Overall, the best method for a particular use case often depends on the balance between readability, maintainability, and performance that is prioritized. When making design choices, consider not just the fastest option but also factors like code clarity and ease of debug.

Related benchmarks:

Ternary operator VS Multi-assign VS Function call (version: 1)

Comparing performance of: Ternary vs Assign vs Function vs Simple

Created: 29 days ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

Ternary

Assign

Function

Simple

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated 29 days ago):