Benchmark: array.sort.pop vs Math.max(...array)

Script Preparation code:

var v1 = 12345678.12345;
var v2 = 23456789.01234;

var arr = [v2, v1]

Tests:

sort
var a = arr.sort((a,b) => a - b).pop();
max
var a = Math.max(...arr)

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
sort
max

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 2 years ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/103.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 103 on Windows

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
sort	9338019.0 Ops/sec
max	3624611.0 Ops/sec

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

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

Let's dive into the world of MeasureThat.net and analyze the provided benchmark.

**What is tested?**

MeasureThat.net tests two different approaches to find the maximum value in an array: using the `sort` method followed by `pop`, and using the `Math.max` function with multiple arguments (also known as "rest parameter" syntax).

**Options compared**

There are two options being compared:

1. **sort + pop**: This approach sorts the entire array in ascending order and then removes the last element (using `pop`) to find the maximum value.
2. **max**: This approach uses the `Math.max` function with multiple arguments to directly find the maximum value in the array.

**Pros and Cons of each approach**

1. **sort + pop**:
	* Pros:
		+ Easy to understand for developers familiar with sorting algorithms.
		+ Can be useful if you need to sort other properties of objects besides just numbers.
	* Cons:
		+ Sorts the entire array, which can be inefficient for large datasets.
		+ Requires extra steps and operations (sorting, indexing).
2. **max**:
	* Pros:
		+ More efficient than sorting the entire array, especially for large datasets.
		+ Directly finds the maximum value without extra operations.
	* Cons:
		+ May be less intuitive for developers who aren't familiar with rest parameters.
		+ Might not work correctly if the array contains non-numeric values.

**Library and its purpose**

In this benchmark, no specific library is used beyond the built-in `Math` object in JavaScript. The `Math.max` function is a standard part of JavaScript's API.

**Special JS feature or syntax**

The rest parameter syntax (`var arr = [v2, v1]`) is not specific to MeasureThat.net but rather a general JavaScript feature introduced in ECMAScript 2015 (ES6). It allows functions to accept a variable number of arguments, which are collected into an array called `args`.

**Other considerations**

When choosing between these two approaches, consider the size and nature of your data. For small datasets or when readability is more important than performance, `sort + pop` might be sufficient. However, for large datasets or when efficiency is crucial, `max` is generally a better choice.

If you need to find the maximum value in an array frequently, you may want to consider caching the result using `Math.max.apply(null, arr)`, which can avoid creating an intermediate array and reduce memory usage.

**Alternatives**

Some alternative approaches to finding the maximum value in an array include:

1. Using a custom implementation with binary search or other efficient algorithms.
2. Using a third-party library like Lodash or Ramda, which provide optimized functions for various operations, including array manipulation.
3. Considering using a data structure like a min-max heap or priority queue to efficiently find the maximum value.

Keep in mind that these alternatives might have different trade-offs in terms of performance, readability, and complexity.

Related benchmarks:

array.sort.pop vs Math.max(...array) (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: sort vs max

Created: 3 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

sort

max

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

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