Benchmark: Lodash.isEqual 4.17.15 vs JSON.stringify Equality

HTML Preparation code:

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lodash@4.17.15/lodash.min.js"></script>

Script Preparation code:

window.foo = ['cat', 'dog', 'bird'];
window.bar = ['cat', 'dog', 'bird'];

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:

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

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Let's break down the provided JSON data and explain what's being tested, compared, and discussed.

**Benchmark Overview**

The benchmark is designed to compare the performance of two approaches: using Lodash's `isEqual` function and comparing strings with `===` operator (i.e., `JSON.stringify`). The goal is to determine which approach is faster for equality checks between arrays.

**Script Preparation Code**

The script preparation code sets up a JavaScript environment where two variables, `window.foo` and `window.bar`, are assigned the same array value. This setup ensures that both tests compare identical arrays.

**Html Preparation Code**

The HTML preparation code includes a script tag that loads the Lodash library version 4.17.15 from a CDN. This library provides the `isEqual` function used in one of the test cases.

**Individual Test Cases**

There are two test cases:

1. **_.isEqual(window.foo, window.bar)**: This test case uses Lodash's `isEqual` function to compare the two arrays.
2. **JSON.stringify(window.foo) === JSON.stringify(window.bar)**: This test case compares the strings generated by `JSON.stringify` on both sides of an array.

**Library and Purpose**

Lodash is a utility library that provides various helper functions for tasks like equality checks, string manipulation, and more. In this benchmark, Lodash's `isEqual` function is used to compare two arrays. The purpose here is to demonstrate the performance difference between using a specialized equality checking function versus a more general-purpose comparison operator.

**Other Considerations**

Both test cases are designed to measure execution speed. However, there might be additional factors to consider:

* **Cacheability**: Are the results of `JSON.stringify` cached or recomputed on every iteration?
* **Optimization**: How does JavaScript optimize these operations? (e.g., is it doing anything to reduce the number of array comparisons?)

**Pros and Cons of Different Approaches**

1. **Lodash's `isEqual` function**:
	* Pros: Specialized equality checking, may be optimized for performance.
	* Cons: Adds dependency on Lodash library, may introduce overhead due to function call.
2. **JSON.stringify comparison**:
	* Pros: No dependency on a library, uses a standard JavaScript method.
	* Cons: May not be optimized for performance, can lead to slower results.

**Browser and Device Specifics**

The benchmark result shows that Chrome 81 on Windows (Desktop) was used as the test environment. The reported `ExecutionsPerSecond` value suggests that the execution speed of the tests is relatively fast in this environment.

**Alternatives**

Other approaches for equality checks might include:

* Using built-in JavaScript array methods like `every()`, `some()`, or `includes()` to create a boolean result.
* Implementing custom equality check functions using bitwise operators, loops, and conditionals.
* Leveraging specialized libraries like Fast-Check or Preact's equality checking functionality.

These alternatives might have their own set of trade-offs in terms of performance, readability, and maintainability.

Related benchmarks:

Lodash.isEqual 4.17.15 vs JSON.stringify Equality (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):