Benchmark: some vs for...break

HTML Preparation code:

<!--your preparation HTML code goes here-->

Script Preparation code:

var data = []

for (let i = 0; i < 5000; ++i) data.push({ username: 'toto' })
data.push({ username: 'titi' })
for (let i = 0; i < 2500; ++i) data.push({ username: 'toto' })

Tests:

some
data.some(item => item.username === 'titi');
for..break
for (const item of data) { if (item.username === 'titi') return true; } return false;

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
some
for..break

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 21 days ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/131.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 131 on Windows

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
some	265820.2 Ops/sec
for..break	259827.9 Ops/sec

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated 21 days ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

The benchmark provided evaluates two different methods for checking if a specific user exists within an array of objects (`data`), where each object has a single property, `username`. The two approaches being compared are:

1. **Using the `Array.prototype.some()` method**.
2. **Using a `for...of` loop with a `break` statement**.

### Approaches Explained

#### 1. `Array.prototype.some()`

**Test Case:** 
```javascript
data.some(item => item.username === 'titi');
```

- **What it does:** The `some` method checks if at least one element in the array satisfies the provided testing function. It will return `true` immediately when it finds an element that satisfies the condition (`item.username === 'titi'`) and `false` when it finishes checking all elements if none match.
  
- **Pros:**
  - The code is concise and expressive, making it clear that we are checking for the existence of a condition.
  - It is generally easier to read and maintain, especially for those familiar with functional programming patterns in JavaScript.

- **Cons:**
  - Performance can vary depending on the JavaScript engine's optimization of such higher-order functions. In some environments, it might have a slight overhead compared to simple loops.

#### 2. `for...of` Loop

**Test Case:**
```javascript
for (const item of data) {
    if (item.username === 'titi')
        return true;
}
return false;
```

- **What it does:** This is a traditional loop that iterates over each element of the array. It checks for the condition and immediately returns `true` if it finds a match. If it finishes looping through all elements without finding a match, it returns `false`.
  
- **Pros:**
  - This approach can sometimes yield better performance since it's a straightforward loop, with relatively low overhead.
  - It allows for easier debugging and control flow management, as traditional loops do.

- **Cons:**
  - The code is longer and can be less readable, particularly if further logic is added in the loop.
  - It may lead to more boilerplate code if not structured well.

### Performance Results

The benchmark results indicate that both methods perform quite similarly:

- **Executions Per Second for `some`:** 265,820.21
- **Executions Per Second for `for...break`:** 259,827.92

While `some` is slightly faster in this instance, the difference may not be significant enough to warrant choosing one over the other without considering other factors such as readability and maintainability.

### Considerations for Software Engineers

When deciding between these methods, engineers should consider:

- **Performance Needs:** If the performance of the operation is critical, it’s usually worth testing both methods on the target platform to see which performs better under the specific circumstances.
  
- **Readability and Maintainability:** In many cases, favoring readability and coding standards is important for long-term maintenance, so if the performance difference is negligible, go for the clearer expression of intent.

### Other Alternatives

Besides `some` and `for...of`, other alternatives for checking an element's existence can include:

- **Using `Array.prototype.includes()`** with transformed data if the data structure allows for it, but that would require changing the array of objects to be an array of usernames only.
  
- **Using `Array.prototype.find()`,** which can also find and return the first element that satisfies a condition, but it will return the element rather than just a boolean.

- **Using a hash set or object for membership checking** if you are frequently performing such existence checks and if the size of `data` is large, as this can provide average constant time complexity for lookups.

Each alternative comes with its performance characteristics, readability, and use-case suitability that should be carefully evaluated by the developer based on the specific requirements of their project.

Related benchmarks:

some vs for...break (version: 1)

Comparing performance of: some vs for..break

Created: 21 days ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

some

for..break

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated 21 days ago):