Benchmark: array default sort vs string compare

Script Preparation code:

var a = [];
for (let i = 0; i < 1000; ++i) {
  a.push(i);
}

Tests:

default sort
a.slice().sort()
string compare
a.slice().sort((a, b) => a === b ? 0 : a < b ? -1 : 1)

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
default sort
string compare

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
default sort	47276.1 Ops/sec
string compare	97018.5 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 benchmark JSON and explain what is being tested.

**Benchmark Overview**

The benchmark measures the performance difference between two approaches for sorting an array: using the default sort method (`a.slice().sort()`) versus comparing elements directly using a custom comparison function (`a.slice().sort((a, b) => a === b ? 0 : a < b ? -1 : 1)`).

**Options Compared**

Two options are compared:

1. **Default Sort**: Using the built-in `sort()` method without providing a custom comparison function.
2. **String Compare**: Providing a custom comparison function that compares elements based on their equality using `===` and then ordering them based on numerical values using `<` and `>`.

**Pros and Cons**

* **Default Sort**:
	+ Pros: Easy to use, efficient, and widely supported.
	+ Cons: Can be slower for arrays with non-numeric or non-comparable elements.
* **String Compare**:
	+ Pros: Provides more control over the sorting process, can handle complex data types.
	+ Cons: Requires a custom comparison function, which can add overhead.

In general, the default sort method is suitable for most use cases, but if you need more control or want to optimize performance, using a custom comparison function like the string compare approach may be beneficial.

**Library and Purpose**

There is no specific library mentioned in this benchmark. The built-in `sort()` method uses the JavaScript Standard Library.

**Special JS Feature/Syntax**

This benchmark does not use any special JavaScript features or syntax beyond what's commonly used in modern web development.

**Alternatives**

Other alternatives for sorting arrays include:

* Using a library like Lodash (`_.sortBy`) or Ramda (`R.sortBy`)
* Implementing a custom sorting algorithm, such as insertion sort or merge sort
* Using a data structure that supports built-in ordering, like an array of objects with `key` property

Keep in mind that the choice of sorting method depends on the specific use case and requirements.

Related benchmarks:

array default sort vs string compare (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: default sort vs string compare

Created: one year ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

default sort

string compare

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):