Benchmark: Math.pow vs ** with variables

Tests:

Math.pow
let a = 11; let b = 12; let c = Math.pow(a,b)
**
let a = 11; let b = 12; let c = a ** b

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
Math.pow
**

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

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

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_14_6) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/87.0.4280.88 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 87 on Mac OS X 10.14.6

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
Math.pow	6950383.0 Ops/sec
**	810326912.0 Ops/sec

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

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

Let's break down the provided JSON data and explain what's being tested in this JavaScript microbenchmark.

**Benchmark Definition**

The benchmark definition is a simple expression that calculates the result of either `Math.pow(a, b)` or `a ** b`. The variables `a` and `b` are initialized with values 11 and 12, respectively. The goal is to compare the performance of these two approaches.

**Options Compared**

Two options are being compared:

1. `Math.pow(a, b)`: This is a built-in JavaScript function that calculates the power of `a` raised to the exponent `b`.
2. `a ** b`: This is a binary exponentiation operator, which is not a built-in JavaScript function but rather an operator introduced in ECMAScript 2020.

**Pros and Cons**

The two approaches have different performance characteristics:

* `Math.pow(a, b)`: This approach uses the built-in `pow` function under the hood, which can be slower due to its implementation details. It's also a more general-purpose function that can handle various mathematical operations.
	+ Pros: Portable across different browsers and JavaScript engines.
	+ Cons: May be slower than binary exponentiation for large inputs.
* `a ** b`: This approach uses binary exponentiation, which is optimized for performance in modern JavaScript engines. It's also a more specialized function that only calculates the power of two numbers.
	+ Pros: Fastest implementation for large inputs and specific use cases like this benchmark.
	+ Cons: Not as portable across different browsers and JavaScript engines due to its non-standard operator.

**Library**

In both test cases, no external libraries are used. The `Math.pow` function is a built-in part of the JavaScript standard library, while the `a ** b` expression uses a non-standard operator introduced in ECMAScript 2020.

**Special JS Feature/Syntax**

The use of the binary exponentiation operator (`a ** b`) is a new feature introduced in ECMAScript 2020. This syntax allows for more efficient calculations of powers, especially when dealing with large inputs.

**Other Alternatives**

In theory, other approaches could be used to calculate the power of two numbers, such as:

* Using the `Math.sqrt(a)` and `a * b` approach: `Math.sqrt(a) * Math.sqrt(b)`
* Using a custom implementation with loops or recursive functions
* Using a library like NumJS or Big.js for numerical computations

However, these alternatives are not part of the standard JavaScript API and may not be supported by all browsers or JavaScript engines.

The benchmark is primarily designed to compare the performance of `Math.pow(a, b)` vs. the binary exponentiation operator (`a ** b`) in a specific use case.

Related benchmarks:

Math.pow vs ** with variables (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: Math.pow vs **

Created: 4 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

Math.pow

**

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

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