Benchmark: Math.pow vs ** - MeasureThat.net

Tests:

pow
var tmp = Math.pow(6, 42);
**
var tmp = 6 ** 42;

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
pow
**

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 dive into the world of JavaScript microbenchmarks on MeasureThat.net.

**What is tested?**

The provided benchmark measures the performance difference between two mathematical functions: `Math.pow` and the exponentiation operator (`**`). Specifically, it tests the performance of these two approaches for a large exponent (42).

**Options compared**

Two options are being compared:

1. **`Math.pow`**: This function raises the first argument to the power specified by the second argument.
2. **Exponentiation operator (`**`)**: This is a binary operator that raises the left operand to the power of the right operand.

**Pros and cons of each approach**

* `Math.pow`:
	+ Pros:
		- Well-defined, standardized behavior.
		- Easy to read and understand.
	+ Cons:
		- May involve more overhead due to function call and argument passing.
		- Can be slower for very large exponents.
* Exponentiation operator (`**`):
	+ Pros:
		- More efficient and faster than `Math.pow`.
		- Often implemented in native code, making it faster.
	+ Cons:
		- Less readable and less intuitive than `Math.pow`.
		- Not as widely supported (e.g., older browsers may not support it).

**Library usage**

There is no library mentioned in the provided benchmark definition. However, if a library is used in the test script, it's likely to be a utility library for mathematical operations or a testing framework.

**Special JS features/syntax**

The exponentiation operator (`**`) is a relatively recent addition to JavaScript, introduced in ECMAScript 2016 (ES6). It provides a more concise and expressive way of writing exponentiation expressions. Other than this, there are no special JS features or syntax mentioned in the benchmark definition.

**Other alternatives**

For exponentiation operations, other alternatives to `Math.pow` include:

* The `Math.exp()` function with repeated multiplication (`exp(x) * exp(y)`).
* The `Math.sqrt()` function followed by exponentiation (`sqrt(x) ** 2`).

However, these alternatives may not be as efficient or readable as the exponentiation operator.

**Benchmark preparation code**

The provided benchmark preparation code is empty, indicating that no specific setup or initialization is required before running the benchmarks.

I hope this explanation helps software engineers understand the purpose and scope of the MeasureThat.net JavaScript microbenchmarks!

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 5 years ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/76.0.3809.132 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 76 on Windows

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
pow	6348821.0 Ops/sec
**	917309056.0 Ops/sec

Related benchmarks:

Math.pow vs ** (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: pow vs **

Created: 5 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

pow

**

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):