Holi Labs
1 min Performance

How to compare WASM and JavaScript fairly

A repeatable browser benchmark checklist that includes startup, transfer, memory, and user-visible latency.

#benchmark #wasm #performance
Contents
Define the user-visible question Record the environment Report distributions Decide with product costs

A WASM implementation is not automatically faster than JavaScript. The result depends on workload size, data conversion, compilation, caching, browser, and device.

Define the user-visible question

Measure a real task such as “time from clicking Generate to a scannable QR preview.” Include loading and conversion work the user actually waits for.

Record the environment

  • Browser and exact version.
  • Operating system and hardware.
  • Cold and warm runs.
  • Bundle size and WASM byte size.
  • Sample inputs and iteration count.

Report distributions

Use multiple runs and publish median plus a high percentile. Keep initialization separate, but do not hide it. If the result changes only in a synthetic loop and not in interaction latency, say so.

Decide with product costs

Performance is one input. Also compare complexity, debugging, accessibility impact, deployment, browser fallback, and contributor experience. Keep WASM only when the complete tradeoff remains positive.

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v0.6.0 2026-09-02
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