Benchmark: toString vs Stringify vs backticks

Script Preparation code:

function moreData(arr, left) {
  if(left === 0) return arr;
  else {
    arr.push(Math.floor(Math.random() * 256));
  	return moreData(arr, left - 1);
  }
}
function makeTestData() { return moreData([], 4); }

Tests:

toString
makeTestData().toString()
stringify
JSON.stringify(makeTestData());
backticks
`${Object.values(makeTestData())}`
String()
String(makeTestData())

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
toString
stringify
backticks
String()

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

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

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:132.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/132.0

Browser/OS: Firefox 132 on Mac OS X 10.15

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
toString	8417015.0 Ops/sec
stringify	4062036.5 Ops/sec
backticks	2348149.5 Ops/sec
String()	2694302.0 Ops/sec

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated one month ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

The benchmark represented in the provided JSON compares different methods of converting an array of numbers to a string in JavaScript. The main approaches being tested are:

1. **`toString()`**: This is a method available on the array object that converts the array elements to a string, allowing for a simple concatenation of the values with commas separating them.

2. **`JSON.stringify()`**: This method converts a JavaScript object or value to a JSON string. It is particularly useful for serializing complex data structures, including arrays and objects.

3. **Template literals (backticks)**: This approach uses ES6 template literals, which allow for easier string interpolation. The syntax `${}` is used to include expressions within a string.

4. **`String()` function**: This is a global function in JavaScript that converts a given object to its string representation. For arrays, it functions similarly to the `toString()` method.

### Comparison of Options

**Pros and Cons**:

- **`toString()`**:
  - **Pros**: Fast for simple cases as it directly converts array elements with default comma separation.
  - **Cons**: Limited to basic string conversion and does not offer custom formatting.

- **`JSON.stringify()`**:
  - **Pros**: Extremely useful for complex objects and arrays, can handle nested structures, and can include additional formatting options like indentation when needed.
  - **Cons**: Potentially slower for simple arrays due to additional processing required for serialization, especially with larger and more complex structures.

- **Template Literals (backticks)**:
  - **Pros**: Allows for easy readability and includes dynamic expressions directly within strings. It can manipulate string formats on the fly.
  - **Cons**: For a simple array, it may be overkill, resulting in less optimal performance compared to the straightforward `toString()` method. Also, it requires a conversion method (like `Object.values()`) to transform the array.

- **`String()` Function**:
  - **Pros**: Similar to `toString()` but can be invoked globally; it's part of the standard built-in JavaScript functions.
  - **Cons**: Identical in performance and output to `toString()` but slightly less common for array conversion.

### Benchmark Findings

From the benchmark results, we see the following execution speeds for each method:

- **`toString`**: 4,642,401.5 executions per second (fastest)
- **`stringify`**: 4,352,942.5 executions per second
- **`String()`**: 3,465,368.25 executions per second
- **`backticks`**: 3,006,306.5 executions per second (slowest)

### Other Considerations

- **Performance Implications**: Choosing the right method for string conversion can impact performance, especially in scenarios that require high efficiency, such as real-time applications or those dealing with large datasets.
- **Readability vs. Performance**: While using more "feature-rich" methods like `JSON.stringify()` or template literals may improve code readability, they can result in a performance hit compared to more straightforward approaches.
- **Use Case Awareness**: The choice of method should align with the specific use case driving the application's functionality. For lightweight tasks, simpler methods like `toString()` may serve better, while more complex requirements might necessitate something like `JSON.stringify()`.

Overall, this benchmark serves as a useful test for developers looking to understand the trade-offs between different methods of converting arrays into strings in JavaScript, providing insights that can guide them in optimizing performance while maintaining code clarity.

Related benchmarks:

toString vs Stringify vs backticks (version: 1)

Comparing performance of: toString vs stringify vs backticks vs String()

Created: one month ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

toString

stringify

backticks

String()

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated one month ago):