Comments on: AS3 vs. JavaScript Performance Test

By: jackson

jackson — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:17:52 +0000

The Flash version of the tests is written for Flash 9 and therefore does not make use of Vector. I'd be interested to know how you got a 10-30x improvement over Array as my own tests show a 0-2x performance improvement, depending on the type of Vector and operation being performed on it. As for the test's source code, you can get it in its entirety from onflex.org. The JavaScript source is available from oddhammer.com. Both are linked at the bottom of the page I mentioned at the start of the article. Also, check out the followup tests in this series for more up-to-date results.

By: Raph

Raph — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:28:47 +0000

I don’t know if the tests in AS3 take benefit from the Vector class instead of Array. I observed from 10 to 30 x speed improvement that Array.
Also the sources of the test suite isn’t published completely and the test can’t be run by individual observers. Overall it’s good to see some numbers online but it lacks transparency.

By: jackson

jackson — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:39:12 +0000

You’re spot-on about this test only measuring AS3 performance versus that of JavaScript, hence the title of the series. I’m deliberately not testing anything related to graphics, sound, input, etc. in these tests. As for test averaging, I do post the raw data for anyone interesting in seeing the individual test times or computing an alternative (eg. geometric average) total time.

Let me know if you finish your port of a “standard” JavaScript benchmark. I’d be really interested in seeing those results!

By: Alexis

Alexis — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:37:12 +0000

Nice bench. The problem, knowing the “flash-bashing” situation, is to handle the result with precaution :
- The bench only measure javascript vs actionscript performance, not the complete platform (flash vs html5).
- It compares total time of several tests, which means that if one much slower test while other are fastest might lead to a bad global result, even if the slower test is not often used in real case. I think it might be better to use geometric average of scores, rather that sum to times. Score being ratio of test time versus time of a average configuration.
I’m currently working on porting “standard” Javascript benchmark (V8, Sunspider…) but it’s a long term project, and results are sometimes surprising… and hard to explain.

By: jackson

jackson — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:59:16 +0000

Would you mind running the tests and posting your results? Also, note that the gap has widened further in followup tests.

By: gazuraz

gazuraz — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 13:13:54 +0000

this is stupid. Javascript has a much slower Runtime than as3, and even as2. If I didnot tested it for my self I could believe you. Tel me, how dose the Apple pays for this kind of a reverse marketing?