Benchmark: Lodash.isEqual vs JSON.stringify Equality Comparison for Shallow Array of Strings_1.

HTML Preparation code:

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lodash@4.17.4/lodash.min.js"></script>

Script Preparation code:

window.foo = ['cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow'];
window.bar = ['cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow','cat', 'dog', 'bird', 'cow'];

Tests:

_.isEqual
_.isEqual(window.foo, window.bar)
JSON.stringify
JSON.stringify(window.foo) === JSON.stringify(window.bar);

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
_.isEqual
JSON.stringify

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Sumamry (model llama3.2:3b, generated 4 days ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

Let's break down the provided benchmark definition and test cases.

**Benchmark Overview**

The benchmark compares the performance of two approaches to check for equality between two arrays: using the `lodash.isEqual` function and using the `JSON.stringify` method.

**Test Case 1: _.isEqual**

* **Description**: Tests the performance of `_lodash.isEqual` on a shallow array of strings.
* **Library**: Lodash is a popular JavaScript utility library that provides a wide range of functions for various tasks, including equality checks. In this case, `_.isEqual` is used to compare two arrays for equality.
* **Pros**:
	+ Efficient implementation: Lodash's implementation of `isEqual` is optimized for performance and can handle large datasets efficiently.
	+ Comprehensive feature set: Lodash provides a comprehensive set of utility functions that can be useful in various scenarios.
* **Cons**:
	+ Additional dependency: The benchmark relies on the presence of the Lodash library, which may add an additional layer of complexity.
	+ Overhead: Including a third-party library like Lodash might introduce some overhead due to the need for loading and parsing the library's code.
* **Other Considerations**: Since `_.isEqual` is a custom implementation, its performance can be affected by factors such as the size of the input arrays, the specific use case, and the target environment.

**Test Case 2: JSON.stringify**

* **Description**: Tests the performance of comparing two arrays using the `JSON.stringify` method.
* **Purpose**: The `JSON.stringify` method converts a JavaScript value (in this case, an array) into a JSON string. By comparing two strings generated by `JSON.stringify`, we can determine if the underlying arrays are equal.
* **Pros**:
	+ Native implementation: The `JSON.stringify` method is part of the ECMAScript standard and has built-in support in most browsers.
	+ Lightweight: This approach does not rely on a third-party library, making it a lightweight solution.
* **Cons**:
	+ Stringification overhead: Converting arrays to strings can introduce additional overhead due to the need for parsing and formatting the data.
	+ Limited precision: If the arrays contain non-numeric or non-string elements, `JSON.stringify` might not produce the expected results.

**Comparison**

The benchmark aims to compare the performance of these two approaches on a specific use case. The test cases provide a reasonable starting point, as they:

1. Use a realistic dataset (an array of strings).
2. Compare arrays using both `_.isEqual` and `JSON.stringify`.
3. Provide execution counts for each test case.

However, there are some potential limitations to consider:

* The benchmark might not account for edge cases, such as very large input sizes or arrays with complex data structures.
* The results might be influenced by factors like browser version, platform, and CPU architecture.
* The `JSON.stringify` approach relies on the browser's implementation of this method, which can vary across different browsers.

**Alternatives**

If you're interested in exploring other alternatives for equality checks, consider the following options:

1. **Array.prototype.every()**: This method returns a boolean value indicating whether all elements in an array pass a test provided as a callback function.
2. **Array.prototype.some()**: Similar to `every()`, but returns true if at least one element passes the test.
3. **ES6 Array.prototype.includes()**: Returns a boolean value indicating whether an array contains a specified value.
4. **Custom implementation**: Depending on your specific use case, you might be able to implement a custom equality check using bitwise operations or other low-level techniques.

Keep in mind that each alternative has its pros and cons, and the choice of which one to use depends on the specific requirements of your project.

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 4 years ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_12_6) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/79.0.3945.117 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 79 on Mac OS X 10.12.6

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
_.isEqual	1130219.0 Ops/sec
JSON.stringify	229857.8 Ops/sec

Related benchmarks:

Lodash.isEqual vs JSON.stringify Equality Comparison for Shallow Array of Strings_1. (version: 0)

Test on isEqual performance

Comparing performance of: _.isEqual vs JSON.stringify

Created: 4 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

_.isEqual

JSON.stringify

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Sumamry (model llama3.2:3b, generated 4 days ago):