arg_passing.md

Passing arguments to functions

Snippet used to measure:

local start_time = os.time()
Test()
local total_time = os.time() - start_time
print("taken: " .. tostring(total_time) .. "ms")

The empty loop takes ms.

No arguments

local function f() end
local function Test()
	for i = 1, 100000 do
		f()f()f()f()f()f()f()f()f()f()
	end
end

taken: 208ms

taken: 201ms

taken: 196ms

1 number argument

local function f(n) end
local function Test()
	for i = 1, 100000 do
		f(1)f(2)f(3)f(4)f(5)f(6)f(7)f(8)f(9)f(10)
	end
end

taken: 215ms

taken: 231ms

taken: 213ms

2 number arguments

local function f(n1,n2) end
local function Test()
	for i = 1, 100000 do
		f(1,2)f(3,4)f(5,6)f(7,8)f(9,10)f(11,12)f(13,14)f(15,16)f(17,18)f(19,20)
	end
end

taken: 237ms

taken: 242ms

taken: 235ms

3 number arguments

local function f(n1,n2,n3) end
local function Test()
	for i = 1, 100000 do
		f(1,2,3)f(5,6,7)f(9,10,11)f(13,14,15)f(17,18,19)f(21,22,23)f(25,26,27)f(29,30,31)f(33,34,35)f(37,38,39)
	end
end

taken: 287ms

taken: 267ms

taken: 268ms

4 number arguments

local function f(n1,n2,n3,n4) end
local function Test()
	for i = 1, 100000 do
		f(1,2,3,4)f(5,6,7,8)f(9,10,11,12)f(13,14,15,16)f(17,18,19,20)f(21,22,23,24)f(25,26,27,28)f(29,30,31,32)f(33,34,35,36)f(37,38,39,40)
	end
end

taken: 324ms

taken: 328ms

taken: 326ms

8 number arguments

local function f(n1,n2,n3,n4,n5,n6,n7,n8) end
local function Test()
	for i = 1, 100000 do
		f(1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4)f(5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4)f(9,10,11,12,1,2,3,4)f(13,14,15,16,1,2,3,4)f(17,18,19,20,1,2,3,4)f(21,22,23,24,1,2,3,4)f(25,26,27,28,1,2,3,4)f(29,30,31,32,1,2,3,4)f(33,34,35,36,1,2,3,4)f(37,38,39,40,1,2,3,4)
	end
end

taken: 440ms

taken: 424ms

taken: 417ms

4 undeclared number arguments

local function f() end
local function Test()
	for i = 1, 100000 do
		f(1,2,3,4)f(5,6,7,8)f(9,10,11,12)f(13,14,15,16)f(17,18,19,20)f(21,22,23,24)f(25,26,27,28)f(29,30,31,32)f(33,34,35,36)f(37,38,39,40)
	end
end

taken: 308ms

taken: 301ms

taken: 308ms

4 strings

Note: Strings are passed by copy so the longer they are the worst it will be. This test is to get the base difference.

local function f(s1,s2,s3,s4) end
local function Test()
	for i = 1, 100000 do
		f("1","2","3","4")f("5","6","7","8")f("9","10","11","12")f("13","14","15","16")f("17","18","19","20")f("21","22","23","24")f("25","26","27","28")f("29","30","31","32")f("33","34","35","36")f("37","38","39","40")
	end
end

taken: 335ms

taken: 342ms

taken: 344ms

table of 8 number arguments

local function f(t) end
local function Test()
	for i = 1, 100000 do
		f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})f({1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8})
	end
end

taken: 485ms

taken: 492ms

taken: 519ms