What's the fastest way to loop through an array in JavaScript?

wong2 picture wong2 · Mar 18, 2011 · Viewed 216.4k times · Source

I learned from books that you should write for loop like this:

for(var i=0, len=arr.length; i < len; i++){
    // blah blah
}

so the arr.length will not be calculated each time.

Others say that the compiler will do some optimization to this, so you can just write:

for(var i=0; i < arr.length; i++){
    // blah blah
}

I just want to know which is the best way in practice?

Answer

jondavidjohn picture jondavidjohn · Aug 31, 2011

After performing this test with most modern browsers: https://jsben.ch/wY5fo

Currently, the fastest form of loop (and in my opinion the most syntactically obvious).

A standard for-loop with length caching

    var i = 0, len = myArray.length;
    while (i < len) {
        // your code
        i++
    }

I would say, this is definitely a case where I applaud JavaScript engine developers. A runtime should be optimized for clarity, not cleverness.