Benchmark: Tuple versus Object for function return 02

Script Preparation code:

var COUNT = 500000

Tests:

Tuple
function now() { return [5612356223, 3] } for(let i = 0; i < COUNT; i++) { let [ts, meta] = now() }
Object
function now() { return {ts:5612356223, meta:3} } for(let i = 0; i < COUNT; i++) { let {ts, meta} = now() }
number
function now() { return 5612356223 } for(let i = 0; i < COUNT; i++) { let ts = now() }

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
Tuple
Object
number

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 3 months ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/143.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 143 on Windows

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
Tuple	469.1 Ops/sec
Object	1315.8 Ops/sec
number	1286.0 Ops/sec

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

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

The benchmark defined in the provided JSON is testing the performance of different methods for returning multiple values from a function in JavaScript. The three different approaches being compared are using a tuple (array), an object, and a single number. Here’s a breakdown of the test cases:

### Test Cases:

1. **Tuple**:
   - **Benchmark Definition**: This approach returns an array (`[5612356223, 3]`) from the `now` function. The returned array is destructured into separate variables (`ts` and `meta`).
   - **Pros**: 
     - Concise syntax for returning multiple values.
     - Lightweight and can be more performant for small numbers of values.
   - **Cons**: 
     - Less self-documenting since arrays don’t convey the meaning of values without additional context.
     - Not ideal for returning a variable number of values or more complex data structures.

2. **Object**:
   - **Benchmark Definition**: This approach returns an object (`{ts:5612356223, meta:3}`) from the `now` function, and the respective properties are destructured.
   - **Pros**: 
     - More descriptive and self-explanatory since the keys convey the meaning of each value.
     - Easier to extend; you can add more properties without breaking existing code.
   - **Cons**: 
     - Slightly more memory overhead compared to arrays due to object structure.
     - May have a performance hit compared to arrays in scenarios with very high iteration counts.

3. **Number**:
   - **Benchmark Definition**: This returns a single number (`5612356223`) from the `now` function.
   - **Pros**: 
     - Simplest and most efficient for cases where only one value is required.
     - Generally faster in terms of execution speed because there’s no overhead associated with returning multiple values.
   - **Cons**: 
     - Limited in functionality; cannot return multiple values or related data.

### Results Overview:

- The benchmark results show the number of executions per second for each approach on a specific platform (Chrome 134 on Mac OS).

- The performance results indicate the following:
  - **Object**: 952.79 executions per second.
  - **Number**: 950.34 executions per second.
  - **Tuple**: 753.11 executions per second.

From these results, we see that returning an object is the fastest method among the tested cases, followed closely by the single number method. The tuple approach was significantly slower, likely due to its destructuring overhead or array handling in this context.

### Considerations:

- **Use Cases**: If the intention is to return a couple of related values where readability is a priority, using an object is beneficial. If performance is the key concern and only one value is required, returning a number is ideal. For cases where lightweight tuples are appropriate, arrays may suffice but come with the loss of clarity.

- **Other Alternatives**: 
   - Utilizing libraries such as Immutable.js can provide constructs for handling complex data while ensuring immutability. 
   - If a function needs to return various types of structured data frequently, consider using TypeScript for better typing and structure to improve maintainability and clarity.
   - In scenarios where multiple values need direct passing, consider using a class or struct that encapsulates the data.

Overall, the choice between using a tuple, object, or single value should be based on specific use cases, performance requirements, and code readability considerations. Each approach has its own merits and trade-offs, which the benchmarks illustrate effectively.

Related benchmarks:

Tuple versus Object for function return 02 (version: 1)

Comparing performance of: Tuple vs Object vs number

Created: one year ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

Tuple

Object

number

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

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