Let's break down the benchmark and its results.

Benchmark Overview

The benchmark is designed to compare the performance of JavaScript primitives: numbers, strings, and symbols. The test cases check for equality between two variables, where one variable is initialized with a specific type (number, string, or symbol) and the other variable is initialized with a value that should not match the first variable.

Benchmark Test Cases

There are three test cases:

1. Symbol: Checks if a === b when both a and b are assigned the same symbol using const a = Symbol(); const b = Symbol();.
2. Number: Checks if a === b when both a and b are assigned numbers 1 and 2, respectively.
3. String: Checks if a === b when both a and b are assigned strings '1' and '2', respectively.

Library and Special JS Features

In this benchmark, there is no explicit library used. However, the use of symbols (const a = Symbol(); const b = Symbol();) introduces a special JavaScript feature: primitive values (numbers, strings, symbols) are distinct and can be compared using === or other comparison operators.

Performance Comparison

The results show that:

• Symbol: Symbols have the highest execution rate, with an average of 6652672 executions per second.
• Number: Numbers have a lower execution rate than symbols but higher than strings. The average execution rate is around 171858736 executions per second.
• String: Strings have the lowest execution rate, with an average of 171858736 executions per second.

Pros and Cons

• Symbols:
  • Pros: High performance due to their primitive nature and immutability.
  • Cons: Limited use cases, as they are not commonly used in JavaScript programming.
• Numbers:
  • Pros: Fast execution rates, widely used in numerical computations.
  • Cons: Comparison operators like === may return false positives for some numeric values (e.g., NaN).
• Strings:
  • Pros: Common use case, easy to work with, and has many built-in methods.
  • Cons: Lower performance compared to numbers and symbols.

Other Alternatives

If this benchmark were not available, one could consider using other approaches:

1. Use existing benchmarking libraries: e.g., Benchmark.js or Microbenchmark.
2. Implement custom benchmarking loops: using JavaScript's built-in performance.now() function to measure execution times.
3. Compare performance on different platforms: to account for differences in browser behavior.

Keep in mind that this is a simplified explanation, and there are many factors that can affect performance in real-world applications.