Let's dive into the world of JavaScript microbenchmarks!

What is being tested?

MeasureThat.net is comparing the performance of two approaches for iterating over arrays in JavaScript: traditional for loops and the new for...of syntax.

The benchmark is testing which approach is faster when searching for a specific value ('b') within an array. The test case uses a fixed-size array with three elements: 'hello', 'a', and 'b'.

Options compared

There are two options being compared:

1. Traditional for loop: This involves using a traditional for loop to iterate over the array, incrementing an index variable (i) until it reaches the length of the array.
2. for...of syntax: This is a new way of iterating over arrays introduced in ECMAScript 2015 (ES6). It uses a for...of loop with a valueOf() method to extract each element from the array.

Pros and cons

• Traditional for loop:
  • Pros: widely supported, easy to understand.
  • Cons: can be slower than for...of, more verbose.
• for...of syntax:
  • Pros: more concise, potentially faster (but not always).
  • Cons: may have issues with array length properties or custom arrays.

Library usage

In this benchmark, there is no explicit library usage mentioned. However, the for...of syntax relies on the built-in Array.prototype.forEach() method, which is a part of the ECMAScript standard and therefore not considered a external library.

Special JS features or syntax

The benchmark uses the new for...of syntax, which was introduced in ES6. This means that users who are familiar with this feature will be able to run this benchmark easily.

Other alternatives

If you're interested in running alternative benchmarks, here are some common options:

• Loops: You can create your own loop-based benchmark using a traditional for loop or a while loop.
• Array methods: Some array methods like indexOf(), findIndex(), or every() might be faster for certain use cases.
• Native functions: Built-in functions like map(), filter(), or reduce() can provide different performance characteristics.

Keep in mind that benchmarking JavaScript performance is a complex topic, and the results may vary depending on the specific use case, platform, and version of JavaScript being used.