JavaScript Engine Benchmarks, 2012 Edition

on Open Source and Programming

In preparation for my talk on Node.js at Pittsburgh TechFest 2012, I went searching for some up-to-date JavaScript engine benchmarks.

After being unable to find any recent (this year) data, I decided to perform the tests myself. The graph below shows average results of the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript benchmark test for (what I assume to be) the 5 most popular desktop browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera.

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Values reported are the mean of 10 consecutive runs with each browser. Tests were performed on a Intel Core i7 Macbook Pro with 8GB RAM, running Windows 7 Ultimate SP1.

Not-so-long story short, Google’s V8 engine (Chrome) still leads the pack, though not by much. Microsoft’s Chakra (IE9) performs admirably, with SpiderMonkey (Firefox 9), Carakan (Opera), and SquirrelFish (Safari) trailing in that order.

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