Benchmark: copyWithin: is it fast?

Script Preparation code:

// starting with a plain array buffer, what is fastest?
var buffer = new ArrayBuffer(1024 * 1024);
var originalIntView = new Uint8Array(buffer);
for (var i = 0; i < originalIntView.length; i++) {
  originalIntView[i] = Math.round(Math.random() * 256);
}

Tests:

Uint8 copyWithin
originalIntView.copyWithin(0, 512*1024, 1024*1024)
Int8 Iteration
for (var i = 0; i < 1024 * 512; i++) { originalIntView[i] = originalIntView[i + 1024 * 512]; }
Uint32 copy within
var int32View = new Uint32Array(originalIntView.buffer, originalIntView.byteOffset, originalIntView.byteLength / 4); for (var i = 0; i < 1024 * 512 / 4; i++) { int32View[i] = int32View[i + 1024 * 512 / 4]; }
.set
var other = new Uint8Array(originalIntView.buffer, originalIntView.byteOffset + originalIntView.byteLength / 2, originalIntView.byteLength / 2) originalIntView.set(other, 0)

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
Uint8 copyWithin
Int8 Iteration
Uint32 copy within
.set

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: one month ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:137.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/137.0

Browser/OS: Firefox 137 on Linux

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
Uint8 copyWithin	138687.6 Ops/sec
Int8 Iteration	3039.9 Ops/sec
Uint32 copy within	12811.6 Ops/sec
.set	133528.0 Ops/sec

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model llama3.2:3b, generated 6 months ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

**Overview of the Benchmark**

The provided JSON represents a JavaScript benchmark test case, specifically designed to compare the performance of different approaches for copying data within an array buffer. The test is focused on three scenarios: `copyWithin`, `.set`, and iterating over the array.

**Script Preparation Code**

The script preparation code starts with creating a plain array buffer with a size of 1MB (1024 * 1024). A `Uint8Array` view is created from this buffer, and then populated with random values. This initial setup ensures that all test cases are starting from the same state.

**Options Compared**

The benchmark compares four different approaches:

1. **`copyWithin`**: A built-in JavaScript method that copies a portion of an array to another location in memory.
2. **`.set`**: A method that sets the values of an array to a new array or a view.
3. **Int8 Iteration**: Manually iterating over the array and assigning each value to the next index (similar to `copyWithin`, but without using the built-in method).
4. **Uint32 copy within**: Similar to `copyWithin`, but working with 32-bit unsigned integers (`Uint32Array`) instead of 8-bit unsigned integers (`Uint8Array`).

**Pros and Cons**

Here's a brief summary of the pros and cons of each approach:

* **`copyWithin`**: Pros: Efficient, concise, and well-supported. Cons: May not be suitable for all use cases (e.g., when working with non-numeric data types).
* `.set`: Pros: Allows setting an array to a new value or view, which can be useful in certain scenarios. Cons: May have performance overhead due to the additional step of creating a new array.
* **Int8 Iteration**: Pros: Hand-coding can lead to better understanding and control over memory management. Cons: Inefficient, prone to errors, and not well-suited for large datasets.
* **Uint32 copy within**: Similar pros and cons as `copyWithin`, but with an additional performance overhead due to the increased data type.

**Library and Special JS Features**

In this benchmark, no libraries are explicitly used. However, it's worth noting that some JavaScript environments (e.g., Node.js) may have built-in optimizations or features that affect the performance of certain methods, such as `copyWithin`.

**Considerations**

When interpreting these results, consider the following:

* The test is designed to evaluate the relative performance of different approaches in a specific scenario.
* The benchmark is likely run on a desktop platform with a modern browser (Chrome 129).
* The results may not be representative for other platforms, browsers, or use cases.

**Alternatives**

If you're interested in exploring alternative approaches or testing scenarios, here are some suggestions:

* **`subarray()`**: Another built-in JavaScript method that creates a new array from a portion of an existing array. This approach is worth considering when working with large datasets.
* **Native WebAssembly support**: Modern browsers and web frameworks may have native support for WebAssembly, which can provide significant performance improvements for certain types of computations.
* **Third-party libraries or frameworks**: Depending on your specific use case, you may want to explore using specialized libraries or frameworks that optimize memory management and data processing.

Related benchmarks:

copyWithin: is it fast? (version: 0)

Is copyWithin fast?

Comparing performance of: Uint8 copyWithin vs Int8 Iteration vs Uint32 copy within vs .set

Created: 4 years ago by: Registered User

Jump to the latest result

Uint8 copyWithin

Int8 Iteration

Uint32 copy within

.set

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model llama3.2:3b, generated 6 months ago):