Let's break down what's being tested in this benchmark.

What is being tested?

The benchmark is designed to compare the performance of three different methods to get the current time:

1. Date.now()
2. new Date()
3. performance.now()

These methods are used to measure the passage of time, but they have different characteristics that affect their performance.

Options being compared

The options being compared are:

• Date.now(): This method returns the number of milliseconds since the Unix Epoch (January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC). It's a simple and straightforward way to get the current time.
• new Date(): This method creates a new Date object representing the current date and time. While it may seem similar to Date.now(), creating a new Date object can be more expensive due to object creation overhead.
• performance.now(): This method returns the number of milliseconds since the performance counter was started. It's designed specifically for measuring elapsed time in high-performance applications.

Pros and Cons

Here are some pros and cons of each approach:

• Date.now():
  • Pros: Simple, fast, and widely supported.
  • Cons: May not be suitable for very large intervals (e.g., measuring the passage of hours or days), as it uses a fixed epoch value that may drift over time.
• new Date():
  • Pros: Can provide more precision than Date.now(), as it creates a new object with a specific timestamp.
  • Cons: More expensive due to object creation overhead, and may not be suitable for high-performance applications where speed is critical.
• performance.now():
  • Pros: Specifically designed for measuring elapsed time in high-performance applications, providing the best possible accuracy and speed.
  • Cons: May not be supported in older browsers or environments that don't have a performance counter.

Library

None of these methods rely on any external libraries. They are all built-in JavaScript functions.

Special JS feature or syntax

There's no special JavaScript feature or syntax being used here, just standard JavaScript function calls.

Other alternatives

If you need more precise timing or want to measure time intervals in a specific unit (e.g., milliseconds, seconds), you may consider using other libraries like ms or moment.js. However, for simple cases where you just need to measure the passage of time, these built-in methods should be sufficient.

Keep in mind that while these methods are suitable for most use cases, there may be specific requirements for high-performance applications or situations where accuracy is critical. In such cases, more specialized libraries or frameworks might be necessary.