Benchmark: set has vs array includes (1k items)

Script Preparation code:

window.__theArr = Array.from({length: 10_000}, (_, el) => el)
window.__theSet = new Set(window.__theArr)

Tests:

array
window.__theArr.includes(500);
set
window.__theSet.has(500)

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
array
set

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: one year ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/119.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 119 on Windows

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
array	13731305.0 Ops/sec
set	13903146.0 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 benchmarking scenario.

**Overview**
The test measures the performance difference between using `Array.includes()` and `Set.has()` methods on a large array of 10,000 unique elements. The script preparation code generates an array (`window.__theArr`) and a set (`window.__theSet`) from it, which are then used in individual test cases.

**Options Compared**

Two options are compared:

1. **Array.includes()**: This method checks if a specified value (in this case, 500) exists in the array.
2. **Set.has()**: This method checks if a specified value (in this case, 500) exists in the set.

**Pros and Cons of Each Approach**

*   **Array.includes():**
    *   Pros:
        *   Widely supported and well-maintained.
        *   Fast and efficient for smaller arrays or when searching for a specific element.
    *   Cons:
        *   Less efficient than Set.has() for large datasets, as it requires iterating through the array to find the element.
*   **Set.has():**
    *   Pros:
        *   Much faster and more efficient than Array.includes() for large datasets, thanks to set operations' optimized internal implementation.
        *   Can be used for membership testing in sets or maps efficiently.

**Library Used: Set**

The `Set` library is a built-in JavaScript object that stores unique values. It's implemented as an abstract hash table and provides constant-time complexity for membership testing (has() and size) and insertion/deletion operations.

**Other Considerations**

*   **Data Distribution:** The test uses a uniform distribution of 10,000 unique elements in the array and set, which is unlikely to be representative of real-world data distributions.
*   **Browser Variability:** The benchmark results may vary depending on the browser version, device platform, operating system, and other factors.

**Alternatives**

Other alternatives for membership testing include:

1.  **Map has():** For objects (maps) that are iterables, `has()` provides a more efficient method than `includes()` or `Set.has()`.
2.  **Array.prototype.some():** This method is slower than Array.includes() but can be useful when searching for an element within a subset of the array.
3.  **Other Set Operations:** For more complex set operations, consider using methods like `size`, `keys()`, or `values()`.

In conclusion, the test measures performance differences between two widely used membership testing methods: Array.includes() and Set.has(). While Set.has() is generally faster for large datasets, it's essential to consider factors like data distribution, browser variability, and alternative approaches when optimizing membership testing in your codebase.

Related benchmarks:

set has vs array includes (1k items) (version: 1)

Comparing performance of: array vs set

Created: one year ago by: Registered User

Jump to the latest result

array

set

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):