Benchmark: Lodash.isEqual vs JSON.stringify Equality Comparison for deeply nested objects.

HTML Preparation code:

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lodash@4.17.4/lodash.min.js"></script>

Script Preparation code:

window.foo = {key1:['cat', 'dog', 'bird', {a:1,b:2}],key2:{key21:['abc','def'], key22:'abcd', key23:991383,key24:{}}};
window.bar = {key2:{key21:['abc','def'], key22:'abcd', key23:991383,key24:{}}, key1:['cat', 'dog', 'bird', {a:1,b:2}],};

Tests:

_.isEqual
_.isEqual(window.foo, window.bar)
JSON.stringify
JSON.stringify(window.foo) === JSON.stringify(window.bar);

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
_.isEqual
JSON.stringify

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

No previous run results

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

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

Let's dive into the world of JavaScript microbenchmarks on MeasureThat.net.

**Benchmark Purpose**

The provided benchmark compares the performance of two equality comparison methods: `_.isEqual` from Lodash and simple JSON stringification using the `===` operator.

**Options Compared**

There are two options being compared:

1. **Lodash's _.isEqual**: This method is designed to compare objects for deep equality, considering nested structures, cyclic references, and other complexities.
2. **Simple JSON Stringification (using `===`)**: This approach converts both objects to strings using `JSON.stringify()` and then compares the resulting strings.

**Pros and Cons of Each Approach**

1. **Lodash's _.isEqual**:
	* Pros:
		+ Designed for deep equality comparisons, making it suitable for complex nested structures.
		+ Handles cyclic references and other edge cases.
	* Cons:
		+ May be slower than simple string comparison due to its complexity.
2. **Simple JSON Stringification (using `===`)**:
	* Pros:
		+ Fast and efficient, as it only requires a basic string comparison.
	* Cons:
		+ May not handle complex nested structures or cyclic references correctly.

**Library: Lodash**

Lodash is a popular JavaScript utility library that provides a wide range of functions for tasks such as array manipulation, object transformation, and more. In this benchmark, `_` refers to the root object of Lodash, which provides access to various utility functions like `isEqual`.

**Special JS Feature or Syntax**

There are no specific special features or syntax used in this benchmark.

**Benchmark Preparation Code Explanation**

The preparation code sets up two objects, `foo` and `bar`, with similar but not identical structures. This allows the benchmark to test both methods' performance on deeply nested objects.

**HTML Preparation Code Explanation**

The HTML code includes a script tag that loads Lodash from a CDN, making it available for use in the benchmark.

**Latest Benchmark Result Analysis**

The results show that Chrome 76 with a desktop Linux environment executes `JSON.stringify` at approximately 220496.3125 executions per second, while `_.isEqual` is executed at about 135865.765625 executions per second. This suggests that Lodash's _.isEqual method is significantly slower than simple JSON stringification for this specific benchmark.

**Alternative Approaches**

Other alternatives for equality comparison in JavaScript include:

* Using the `===` operator directly on objects, which may not handle complex structures correctly.
* Implementing a custom equality function using a recursive approach or a library like Object.entries().
* Utilizing modern JavaScript features like `Object.is()` (available in ECMAScript 2015) or `DeepEqual()` from libraries like `deep-equal`.

These alternatives offer different trade-offs in terms of performance, complexity, and ease of use. The choice of approach depends on the specific requirements of your project.

Related benchmarks:

Lodash.isEqual vs JSON.stringify Equality Comparison for deeply nested objects. (version: 0)

Test on isEqual performance

Comparing performance of: _.isEqual vs JSON.stringify

Created: 6 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

_.isEqual

JSON.stringify

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

No previous run results

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