Speed test between Javascript frameworks reliable?

Question

This is pretty interesting, this site runs a speed test and compares all of these;

• PureDom
• jQuery 1.2.6
• jQuery 1.3.2
• Prototype 1.6.0.3
• MooTools 1.2.2
• qooxdoo 0.8.2
• Dojo 1.2.3
• Dojo 1.3.1
• YUI 2.7.0

Javascript frameworks Speed Comparison

Bases on this it seems like the newest jquery version is almost 2x faster then the older version, however even the newest jquery did not perform that well IMO

Question time:
1. So my question, I am new to javascript, do you think this test is pretty accurate?
2. If it is does this even mean anything in terms of performance or is it not even noticable?

Answer 1

The fact that the PureDom tests are sometimes listed as being slower as some of the frameworks makes me doubt the accuracy of the measurements somewhat. Or the programming ability of the site makers I guess :P

Especially after seeing these numbers, I'd say functionality, ease of use and community support are more important than the differences in performance. Use what you like, and if you by chance have to do something very performance dependant, do-it-yourself™.

Answer 2

Performance of the popular JavaScript libraries is more than adequate. It depends a lot on what you do with them too: Even though jQuery may be quick "on paper", it's a library that you can easily use to create very slow code unintentionally. Easy to do lots of inefficient DOM modifications with it for example.

Since the libraries are all fast, what matters to me personally is the development speed and suitability of the library itself. Some are better suited for certain things than others.