What’s the fastest way to JavaScript square a number?

General Discussions
#1

What’s the fastest way to JavaScript square a number?

For example, given the number 61, which method performs best? Here are two approaches I have:

function squareIt(number) {
return Math.pow(number, 2);
}
function squareIt(number) {
return number * number;
}

Is there a more efficient method I should consider? I’m looking for the option that the compiler handles best on average, not a shortened version. I also noticed discussions suggesting that squaring a number is faster than multiplying two random numbers, but does this apply to n * n versus math.pow(n, 2)?

#2

Hi,

This method is straightforward and generally the fastest.

function squareIt(number) {
return number * number;
}

This approach utilizes basic multiplication, which is usually optimized in JavaScript engines.

#3

While this method works, it’s generally slower than simple multiplication.

function squareIt(number) {
return Math.pow(number, 2);
}

Although Math.pow is versatile, it’s often less efficient for squaring due to the overhead of the function call.

#4

If you’re dealing specifically with integers, you can use bitwise operations to optimize performance.

function squareIt(number) {
return (number << 1) * (number >> 1); // This works only for powers of 2
}

However, this is a more complex approach and is not generally recommended for typical cases.