Benchmark: JS switch vs if/else if 1 condition

Script Preparation code:

var test = 'test'

Tests:

switch
switch(test) { case 'test1': return true; default: return false; }
if/else if
if (test === 'test1') { return true; } else { return false; }

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
switch
if/else if

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 14 days ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/131.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 Edg/131.0.0.0

Browser/OS: Chrome 131 on Windows

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
switch	86246432.0 Ops/sec
if/else if	84364720.0 Ops/sec

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated 14 days ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

The benchmark "JS switch vs if/else if 1 condition" aims to compare the performance of two different conditional branching methods in JavaScript: the `switch` statement versus the traditional `if/else if` construct.

### Description of Options:

1. **Switch Statement**:
   - Code: 
     ```javascript
     switch(test) {
       case 'test1':
         return true;
       default:
         return false;
     }
     ```
   - This structure allows for evaluating an expression against multiple potential case values. If a match is found, the code associated with that case executes.

2. **If/Else If Statement**:
   - Code:
     ```javascript
     if (test === 'test1') {
       return true;
     } else {
       return false;
     }
     ```
   - This construct evaluates one condition at a time, proceeding to the next condition only if the previous one fails.

### Pros and Cons:

**Switch Statement**:
- **Pros**:
  - Can improve readability when evaluating a single variable against multiple potential values.
  - May be more efficient in cases with many cases, as it can be optimized by the JavaScript engine.
- **Cons**:
  - Limited to checking the value of a single variable against static conditions. It doesn't handle complex conditions as effectively.
  - Can lead to confusion if not well-structured, particularly with fall-through behavior.

**If/Else If Statement**:
- **Pros**:
  - More flexible; can evaluate complex expressions and conditions.
  - Generally clearer for a single conditional check.
- **Cons**:
  - As the number of conditions increases, it may become less readable.
  - Potentially more overhead as every condition is evaluated sequentially until one is met or all are evaluated.

### Benchmark Results:
The tests were executed in Chrome 131 on a Windows platform. The results showed:
- **Switch**: 86,246,432 executions per second.
- **If/Else If**: 84,364,720 executions per second.

From these results, the `switch` statement performed better in terms of execution speed compared to the `if/else if` statement for this specific case.

### Other Considerations:
- The execution speed may vary with different browsers and engines, and performance differences may diminish with more extensive conditions or additional logic.
- Readability and maintainability of code should also be considered alongside raw speed. While performance is important, clearer code often leads to fewer bugs and greater ease of future modifications.
  
### Alternatives:
- **Object Lookups**: A common alternative to both the `switch` and `if/else if` statements is using an object to store possible values and their corresponding results. This can improve readability and performance in certain situations.
    ```javascript
    const switchObj = {
      'test1': true
    };
    return switchObj[test] || false;
    ```
- **Functional Approaches**: Using function mappings where functions hold the logic for various conditions can also be a way to evaluate conditions dynamically.
- **Ternary Operators**: For simpler conditions, a ternary operator can be more succinct, although it's generally less readable for more complex conditions.

Overall, depending on the specific use case, each approach has its merits and considerations. Selecting the best one requires a balance between performance needs and code maintainability.

Related benchmarks:

JS switch vs if/else if 1 condition (version: 1)

Benchmark of the speed difference between using multiple IF statements and an open-ended IF/ELSE IF.

Comparing performance of: switch vs if/else if

Created: 14 days ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

switch

if/else if

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model gpt-4o-mini, generated 14 days ago):