Let's break down the provided benchmark and explain what's being tested.

Benchmark Overview

The test case measures the performance of two approaches to join values by columns in an object array: using Lodash's filter function or writing a custom implementation using only ES6 syntax.

Options Compared

1. Lodash (lodash):
   • Purpose: A utility library that provides functional programming helpers, including filtering and mapping functions.
   • Pros:
     • Easy to use and familiar syntax for developers already comfortable with Lodash.
     • Well-tested and optimized for performance.
   • Cons:
     • Adds an external dependency to the benchmark, which may affect execution time.
     • May not be suitable for projects that need to minimize dependencies or have specific performance requirements.
2. ES6 (custom implementation):
   • Purpose: A custom implementation using only ES6 syntax, without any additional libraries.
   • Pros:
     • No external dependency, making it suitable for projects with strict dependencies or performance optimization needs.
     • Allows developers to understand and optimize the inner workings of the code.
   • Cons:
     • Requires a deeper understanding of the underlying logic and potential performance trade-offs.
     • May not be as efficient or well-optimized as Lodash's implementation.

Library: Lodash

Lodash is a popular utility library that provides many functional programming helpers, including filter and map. In this benchmark, it's used to filter the object array based on the presence of specific keys. The _.includes function is used to check if an element exists in an array.

Special JS Feature/ Syntax: None

There are no special JavaScript features or syntaxes being tested in this benchmark. Both implementations rely on standard ES6 features and Lodash's API.

Other Alternatives

If you're interested in exploring alternative approaches, here are a few options:

1. Array.prototype.filter(): This is the built-in method for filtering arrays in JavaScript. While it may not be as optimized as Lodash's implementation, it can still provide good performance.
2. Custom implementation using Array.prototype.indexOf() and Array.prototype.includes(): You could implement a custom filter function using these two methods, but it might not be as efficient or readable as the ES6 implementation.
3. Other libraries like underscore.js or Moment.js: There are other libraries that offer similar functionality to Lodash, such as underscore.js or moment.js. However, they may have different APIs and performance characteristics.

I hope this explanation helps you understand what's being tested in this benchmark!