Benchmark: string array sort comparison (simple vs localecompare)

Script Preparation code:

var arr1 = ["lorem", "ipsum", "sim", "dolor", "amet", "sensei", "shaolin", "eight", "nine", "ten"];
var arr2 = ["lorem", "ipsum", "sim", "dolor", "amet", "sensei", "shaolin", "eight", "nine", "ten"];
for(let i=0; i<2; i++) arr1.push(...arr1);
for(let i=0; i<2; i++) arr2.push(...arr2);

Tests:

simple sort
arr1.sort((a,b) => a > b ? 1 : -1)
localeCompare sort
arr2.sort((a,b) => a.localeCompare(b))

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
simple sort
localeCompare sort

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model llama3.2:3b, generated 29 days ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

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

**Benchmark Definition Json**

The benchmark is designed to compare the performance of two sorting algorithms: simple sorting using the `sort()` method with a custom comparison function, and locale-based sorting using the `localeCompare()` method. The benchmark defines two arrays, `arr1` and `arr2`, which are identical except for the fact that they have been duplicated twice (using the `push()` method).

**Script Preparation Code**

The script preparation code sets up the two arrays, `arr1` and `arr2`, with a total of 20 elements each. This is done to ensure that both sorting algorithms are given a large dataset to process.

**Html Preparation Code**

There is no HTML preparation code provided for this benchmark, which means that the focus is solely on the JavaScript performance comparison.

**Individual Test Cases**

The benchmark consists of two test cases:

1. **Simple Sort**: This test case uses the `sort()` method with a custom comparison function `(a,b) => a > b ? 1 : -1`. This function compares two strings by checking if the first string is greater than the second string; if so, it returns 1, otherwise it returns -1.
2. **LocaleCompare Sort**: This test case uses the `localeCompare()` method to compare two strings. This method returns a negative value if the first string comes before the second string in the current locale's sort order, zero if they are equal, and a positive value if the first string comes after the second string.

**Pros and Cons of Different Approaches**

* **Simple Sort**: The `sort()` method with a custom comparison function is a straightforward way to compare two arrays. However, it can be less efficient than locale-based sorting because it doesn't take into account the cultural context and language settings of the user's device.
* **LocaleCompare Sort**: The `localeCompare()` method takes into account the user's locale and language settings, which can lead to more accurate comparisons. However, it may also introduce variability in performance depending on the user's device and browser.

**Library Usage**

The benchmark uses the following libraries:

1. None explicitly mentioned; however, the use of the `push()` method is a part of the standard JavaScript library.
2. The `sort()` and `localeCompare()` methods are built-in JavaScript methods, but they may utilize various underlying libraries or frameworks depending on the browser and device being tested.

**Special JS Features or Syntax**

The benchmark uses the following special features:

1. **Spread operator (`...`)**: This operator is used to concatenate arrays by spreading their elements.
2. **Template literals (e.g., `\r\n`)**: Template literals are used to create string literals with newline characters.

**Other Alternatives**

If you were to rewrite this benchmark, you could consider using different sorting algorithms or techniques, such as:

1. **Merge sort**: An alternative sorting algorithm that is more efficient than simple sorting.
2. **Heap sort**: Another sorting algorithm that can be used for comparison.
3. **Cultural aware sorting libraries**: Libraries like ICU or CLDR provide cultural-aware sorting capabilities that could be used in place of the `localeCompare()` method.

Keep in mind that these alternatives may introduce additional complexity and overhead, so it's essential to consider your specific use case and performance requirements before choosing a different approach.

Latest run results:

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

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/15.5 Safari/605.1.15

Browser/OS: Safari 15 on Mac OS X 10.15.7

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
simple sort	311446.7 Ops/sec
localeCompare sort	197715.3 Ops/sec

Related benchmarks:

string array sort comparison (simple vs localecompare) (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: simple sort vs localeCompare sort

Created: 2 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

simple sort

localeCompare sort

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model llama3.2:3b, generated 29 days ago):