Another micro optimizations in JavaScript

In this blog post we look into the micro optimizations of JavaScript code. These optimizations can improve performance in some specific cases.

Sorting of arrays

In some cases it's better to sort an array of strings only by first 3 characters. I use the optimization bellow in Total.js framework:

// We will sort first 3 chars only
var maxlength = 3;

array.sort(function(valueA, valueB) {
    return valueA.substring(0, maxlength).removeDiacritics().localeCompare(valueB.substring(0, maxlength).removeDiacritics());
});

Sorting of UTF8 characters is much faster by using the above method because we can't sort UTF8 chars (e.g. Slovak characters ľščťžýáíé) in JavaScript easily and a better solution is to remove diacritics from the string and sort it afterwards (of course, sorting can be strict, but wherever possible using this will improve performance). Total.js framework implements quicksort algorithm which is faster than built-in Array.sort() - I haven't had any problems with it so far.

Null and Undefined

I often use bellow if statement:

if (value !== undefined && value !== null)

var str = '';
var num = 0;
var obj_null = null;
var obj_undefined;

console.log(str == null); // false
console.log(num == null); // false
console.log(obj_null == null); // true
console.log(obj_undefined == null); // true

it can be replaced with simpler version:

if (value != null)

Regullar expressions

If you only use string.match() for verification whether the string contains some value or not then it's better to use regexp.test(string) than string.match() from performance point of view:

var str = 'aldkjaldj 9034390';

var regexp = /[0-9]+/;
if (regexp.test(str))
   console.log('OK');

// instead of
if (str.match(regexp))
   console.log('OK');

Be careful when you use regexp.test() and global modificator /g:

var reg = /\w+/g;

console.log(reg.test('aaa bbb')); // true
console.log(reg.test('aaa bbb')); // true
console.log(reg.test('aaa bbb')); // false
console.log(reg.test('aaa bbb')); // true

var reg = /\w+/;

console.log(reg.test('aaa bbb')); // true
console.log(reg.test('aaa bbb')); // true
console.log(reg.test('aaa bbb')); // true
console.log(reg.test('aaa bbb')); // true

Unfortunately it happened to me and it was very difficult to find the bug, that's why i mentioned it. So be careful about it. I have one tip for Regular Expressions, cache them and you will increase a performance:

var str = '  aaa  ';

// BAD
for (var i = 0; i < 100000; i++) {
    var a = str.match(/[a-z0-9]+/);
}

// GOOD
var reg = /[a-z0-9]+/;
for (var i = 0; i < 100000; i++) {
    var a = str.match(reg);
}

Order in comparisons

The order in comparisons is important and can increase performance of your applications, example:

var obj = {};

obj.age = 30;
obj.date = new Date();

// BAD
if (obj.date < new Date() && obj.age > 30) {
}

// GOOD
if (obj.age > 30 && obj.date < new Date()) {
}

My recommendation for comparisons:

If it's possible start with simple data types boolean, interger, string in your conditions then proceed with easiest comparisons to the most cpu intensive comparisons.