jsperf for js objects vs array tuples

Question

I'm getting more and more into programming js in a functional manner which makes heavy use of multiple returns via tuples (especially useful with recursion). Also, a pattern that I use often is creating simple temporary values for projections

_.chain(arr) .filter(...) .map(function(x){ return [x.foo, getSomething(x.bar)] }) .filter(...) .reduce(...) 

Usually I see tuples in js implemented with arrays [a, b] though of course an object - while annoying to write would be just as valid: {a: a, b: b}.

So for this sort of use-case (creation and light usage of a bunch of temporary objects) I'm curious if there's a significant performance difference so I set up this jsperf.

Object tuple test:

var all = [] for(var x = 0; x < 100; x+=1) for(var y = 0; y < 100; y+=1) all.push({x: x, y: y}) var mapped = [] for(var i=0; i < all.length; i+=1) mapped.push({x: all[i].x, y: all[i].y}) 

versus array tuple test

var all = [] for(var x = 0; x < 100; x+=1) for(var y = 0; y < 100; y+=1) all.push([x, y]) var mapped = [] for(var i=0; i < all.length; i+=1) mapped.push([all[i][0], all[i][1]]) 

What do people think? Is this a sufficient test for the concept?

Answer 1

You should consider testing only the creation of the object/array, i.e. [ x, y ] vs. { x: x, y: y }, and also how it reacts to more items:

http://jsperf.com/array-vs-object-tuple

I'd say that the conclusion would be that there is no dramatic performance difference, and they both react reasonably to an increased number of items. Either is cheap enough that the actual performance of the code is usually decided by the actual work of getting the values to put in the object/array.

So, you should normally use the one that makes for conventient use of the result, and maintainable code. Having the ability to name the items in the result can definitely be convenient if you have more than just a few.

Answer 2

Interesting question,

I would like to add that using objects is easier for debugging since the data will be annotated so to speak. It will also make your code easier to maintain, all[i][0] is meaningless, but all[i].barSomething can be far more meaningful.

From a memory perspective, when I check the heap snapshot in Chrome:
[100,100] has a retained size of 32
{x:100,y:100}has a retained size of 20
{fnordificated: 100, tentententoonstelling: 100} has a retained size of 60

Keep this in mind when creating your tuples, it is not clear what the unit of measure is, I assume bytes.