Benchmark: parseInt vs Number addition test

Script Preparation code:

var intA = "42.034";
var strB = "42.034";

Tests:

parseInt
var res = parseInt(intA) + parseInt(strB);
Number
var res = Number(intA) + Number(strB);
+
var res = +intA + +strB;

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
parseInt
Number
+

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated 29 days ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

In the benchmark under consideration, three different approaches for converting strings to numbers and then summing them are compared. Each approach uses slightly different methods to achieve this conversion, and the performance of these methods is evaluated in terms of how many executions can be completed in one second (i.e., "Executions Per Second"). Here’s a detailed breakdown of each approach.

### Benchmark Approaches

1. **Using `parseInt`**:
   ```javascript
   var res = parseInt(intA) + parseInt(strB);
   ```
   - **Description**: The `parseInt()` function is used to convert the string representations of numbers into integers before they are added together.
   - **Pros**:
     - Works well for integer values; it stops parsing at the first non-numeric character.
     - Can handle various number formats, like hexadecimal if a base is specified.
   - **Cons**:
     - Not suitable for floating-point numbers, as it only converts to integers and truncates decimal portions.
     - Less efficient for numeric calculations where floating-point precision is needed.
   - **Considerations**: Since the test inputs contain decimal points, the results may not reflect the true value of `intA` and `strB`, leading to potential inaccuracies.

2. **Using `Number`**:
   ```javascript
   var res = Number(intA) + Number(strB);
   ```
   - **Description**: The `Number()` function is used to convert the string inputs into numbers (potentially floating-point numbers) before performing the addition.
   - **Pros**:
     - Accurately converts both integers and floating-point numbers. 
     - Preserves precision for decimal values, unlike `parseInt()`.
   - **Cons**:
     - May return `NaN` (not a number) if the input string cannot be converted to a valid number format.
   - **Considerations**: This method is generally preferred for arithmetic involving decimal values.

3. **Using Unary Plus (`+`)**:
   ```javascript
   var res = +intA + +strB;
   ```
   - **Description**: The unary plus operator is a shorthand for converting a string to a number. It coerces the string values into numbers before performing the addition.
   - **Pros**:
     - Concise syntax and performs the same function as `Number()`.
     - Very fast on modern JavaScript engines due to optimized handling.
   - **Cons**:
     - Similar pitfalls as `Number()`, such as returning `NaN` for invalid strings.
   - **Considerations**: The unary plus is often favored for its brevity and efficiency.

### Benchmark Results

The benchmark results show the execution speeds of these methods, which are as follows:

- **Unary Plus (`+`)**: 8,028,942.5 executions per second
- **`parseInt`**: 4,371,900.0 executions per second
- **`Number`**: 4,243,572.5 executions per second

In this case, the unary plus (`+`) operator performs the best, followed closely by `parseInt` and `Number()`.

### Alternatives

Other alternatives for converting strings to numbers and summing them could include:

- **Using `parseFloat()`**: This function specifically handles decimal strings. Its performance is likely similar to that of `Number()`, but it is tailored for floating-point values.
- **Using the `Math` Object**: Functions like `Math.floor()`, `Math.ceil()`, or `Math.round()` could also be combined with `Number()` or `parseFloat()` for more specific rounding requirements.
- **Explicit Type Conversion**: Some developers may opt for a more verbose approach using conditional checks to verify number formats before conversion.

### Conclusion

The benchmark demonstrates the efficiency differences between various methods of number conversion and addition in JavaScript. While `parseInt` is beneficial for integers, `Number()` and unary plus are preferred for general number handling, especially when dealing with decimal values, due to their precision and support for a wider range of numeric formats. The choice among these methods should be informed by the specific requirements of the application, particularly the nature of the input data being processed.

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 29 days ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/130.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 130 on Mac OS X 10.15.7

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
parseInt	4371900.0 Ops/sec
Number	4243572.5 Ops/sec
+	8028942.5 Ops/sec

Related benchmarks:

parseInt vs Number addition test (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: parseInt vs Number vs +

Created: 29 days ago by: Registered User

Jump to the latest result

parseInt

Number

+

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated 29 days ago):