Does an array with n huge object elements sort slower that an array with n tiny object elements?

Question

Does the size of an array object element affect the performance of sorting the array?

I suspect the answer is no, because only memory pointers (if I get it correctly) are sorted. But I would be grateful if someone who knows will confirm/reject/explain this.

The property by which to sort contains a number: 1,2,3 etc..

Example of the two arrays:

const arr1 = [{blob: {/*huge object here*/}, order: 1}, /*similar objects*/]

const arr2 = [{smallObject: {foo: 'bar'}, order: 1}, /*similar objects*/]

// sorting like this:
arr.sort((a,b)=> a.order > b.order ? 1 : -1)

No it dosen't depend on the size of individual element. it depends on the number of elements in array. — Code Maniac
– Code Maniac, Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 10:06
The compare time will be affected by the average number of reads it takes to do a compare. For example, if the objects are strings that are nearly identical, then an array of larger strings will take longer to sort than the array of smaller strings due to the compare time. — rcgldr
– rcgldr, Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 17:27

Jonas Wilms · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-10 10:12:54Z

3

No. Pointers are the only way to represent dynamic nested structures efficiently, so the "size" of objects won't affect the sorting, as just pointers have to get swapped.

The size of the array however does affect the sorting speed, if there are more elements you have to sort more.

answered Mar 10, 2019 at 10:12

Jonas Wilms

139k20 gold badges164 silver badges164 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

gilamran · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-10 10:23:20Z

1

I've created a benchmark here: http://jsben.ch/vSVZa

edited Mar 10, 2019 at 10:23

answered Mar 10, 2019 at 10:19

gilamran

7,3144 gold badges33 silver badges54 bronze badges

4 Comments

Nurbol Alpysbayev Over a year ago

Cool! So the size of an object does affect the performance of sorting (though slightly). UPD, no it doesn't really :-) First time the array with lighter objects was 5% faster, second time it is 1% slower, then it is 6% slower, then faster again etc. Thanks for making the benchmark! I was too lazy to make it (an apologize for that).

Subhendu Kundu Over a year ago

Browser specific though. Also if you run jsben.ch/vSVZa for 10times, you might get block 1, fastest one or two times.

gilamran Over a year ago

Any execution will differ as you are testing it on a "busy" computer... generally you can see that the item size does not matter really

Amir Azizkhani Over a year ago

every time i run tests, result is different. i agree with @JonasWilms answer.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Does an array with n huge object elements sort slower that an array with n tiny object elements?

2 Answers 2

Comments

4 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related