Benchmark: Native JS classList versus Native JS getAttribute

HTML Preparation code:

<div class="testClass">Test TEXT here</div>

Tests:

classList
document.querySelector('div').classList
getAttribute
document.querySelector('div').getAttribute('class')

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
classList
getAttribute

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 2 months ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:147.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/147.0

Browser/OS: Firefox 147 on Mac OS X 10.15

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
classList	7853556.5 Ops/sec
getAttribute	7784653.5 Ops/sec

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

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

I'd be happy to explain what's being tested in this benchmark.

The test is comparing two approaches to get the `class` attribute of an HTML element in JavaScript:

1. **Native JS classList**: This approach uses the built-in `classList` property of HTML elements, which allows you to access and manipulate the class names of an element.
2. **Native JS getAttribute**: This approach uses the `getAttribute()` method of the DOM element, which returns the value of a specified attribute.

Here's what's being tested:

* For each test case (one for `classList` and one for `getAttribute`), we're measuring the execution time of both approaches on different browsers.
* The test cases are designed to simulate a typical use case: selecting an HTML element and accessing its class names or attribute value.

**Pros and Cons of each approach:**

1. **Native JS classList**: This approach is generally faster because it's implemented in native code, which means it bypasses the interpreter and can run more efficiently.
	* Pros:
		+ Faster execution time
		+ More memory-efficient
	* Cons:
		+ May not work with older browsers or non-standard HTML elements
		+ Can be less intuitive for developers who are used to using `getAttribute()`
2. **Native JS getAttribute**: This approach is more widely supported, as it's a standard method in the DOM API.
	* Pros:
		+ Works across most browsers and devices
		+ More intuitive for developers
	* Cons:
		+ May be slower than `classList` due to the interpreter overhead

**Library usage:**

In this benchmark, we don't use any external libraries. The `classList` property is a built-in feature of HTML elements in modern browsers.

**Special JS features or syntax:**

This benchmark doesn't require any special JavaScript features or syntax beyond what's available in modern browsers (ECMAScript 2015+).

**Other alternatives:**

If you wanted to test other approaches, here are some alternatives:

* Using a library like jQuery or Lodash, which provide additional utility functions for working with DOM elements.
* Implementing your own custom solution using JavaScript and CSS.
* Testing the performance of `classList` versus `getAttribute()` in older browsers that may not support these features.

It's worth noting that the use cases where one approach might be preferred over the other depend on specific requirements, such as:

* Speed-critical applications
* Legacy browser support
* Code readability and maintainability

In general, when working with HTML elements, using `classList` is a more modern and efficient way to access class names. However, in some cases, `getAttribute()` might be a better choice due to its wider browser support or specific requirements.

Related benchmarks:

Native JS classList versus Native JS getAttribute (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: classList vs getAttribute

Created: 6 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

classList

getAttribute

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

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