BlitzMax comes with several built-in data types:

  • Double
  • Long
  • Int
  • Short
  • Byte
  • Float
  • String
  • Object

How fast are comparisons for different types? Is using a String for a variable much faster or slower than an Int?

Summary

Smaller data types such as Byte and Short are roughly twice as fast to directly compare than Double and Long.

String is the slowest comparison, but string length does not affect how long it takes to compare.

Equality benchmarks

All benchmarks are in release mode with threading enabled. 1,000,000,000 iterations.

Check Type Execution Time (milliseconds)
Double 2462
Long 2771
Integer 1565
Short 1253
Byte 1247
Float 2493
String 4099
Long string 4102
Object 1549

Test code

SuperStrict
Framework brl.basic

SeedRnd(MilliSecs())

Const ITERATIONS:Int = 1000000000

Local startTime:Int
Local result:Byte

' ----------------------------------------
' -- Equality Checks

Local dval1:Double = Rand(0, 100), dval2:Double = Rand(0, 100)

startTime = millisecs()
For local i:Int = 1 to ITERATIONS
    result = (dval1 = dval2)
Next
print "Double check: " + (millisecs() - startTime) 

' ----------

Local lval1:Long = Rand(0, 100), lval2:Long = Rand(0, 100)

startTime = millisecs()
For local i:Int = 1 to ITERATIONS
    result = (lval1 = lval2)
Next
print "Long check: " + (millisecs() - startTime) 

' ----------

Local ival1:Int = Rand(0, 100), ival2:Int = Rand(0, 100)

startTime = millisecs()
For local i:int = 1 to ITERATIONS
    result = (ival1 = ival2)
Next
print "Integer check: " + (millisecs() - startTime) 

' ----------

Local sval1:Short = Rand(0, 100), sval2:Short = Rand(0, 100)

startTime = millisecs()
For local i:Int = 1 to ITERATIONS
    result = (sval1 = sval2)
Next
print "Short check: " + (millisecs() - startTime) 

' ----------

Local bval1:Byte = Rand(0, 100), bval2:Byte = Rand(0, 100)

startTime = millisecs()
For local i:Int = 1 to ITERATIONS
    result = (bval1 = bval2)
Next
print "Byte check: " + (millisecs() - startTime) 

' ----------

Local fval1:Float = Rand(0, 100), fval2:Float = Rand(0, 100)

startTime = millisecs()
For local i:Int = 1 to ITERATIONS
    result = (fval1 = fval2)
Next
print "Float check: " + (millisecs() - startTime) 

' ----------

Local stval1:String = Rand(0, 100), stval2:String = Rand(0, 100)

startTime = millisecs()
For local i:Int = 1 to ITERATIONS
    result = (stval1 = stval2)
Next
print "String check: " + (millisecs() - startTime) 

' ----------

Local lstval1:String = MakeRandomLongString()
Local lstval2:String = MakeRandomLongString()

startTime = millisecs()
For local i:Int = 1 to ITERATIONS
    result = (lstval1 = lstval2)
Next
print "Long string check: " + (millisecs() - startTime) 

' ----------

Local obval1:Object = String(Rand(0, 100)), obval2:Object = String(Rand(0, 100))

startTime = millisecs()
For local i:Int = 1 to ITERATIONS
    result = (obval1 = obval2)
Next
print "Object check: " + (millisecs() - startTime) 

Function MakeRandomLongString:String(length:Int = 255)
    Local result:String = ""

    For Local i:Int = 1 To length
        result :+ Chr(Rand(32, 64))
    Next

    Return result
End Function