Is Bitwise OR a Faster Alternative to Math.floor in JavaScript?

Understanding Bitwise OR for Number Flooring

In JavaScript, a novel technique utilizing the bitwise OR operator (|) to floor float numbers has emerged. This intriguing method raises several questions:

Mechanism of Operation

The bitwise OR operation transforms a float into an integer. This is because bitwise operations, except for right shift, operate on signed 32-bit integers. Therefore, floating-point numbers are converted to whole numbers when undergoing bitwise transformations.

Advantages over Math.floor

Benchmarking results indicate that the bitwise OR method is marginally faster than Math.floor.

Disadvantages

However, this technique presents certain drawbacks:

• Code Clarity: The bitwise approach can be confusing and may not be easily comprehensible for all developers.
• Size Limitation: It only supports 32-bit signed integers.
• Quirky Behavior: It exhibits peculiar behavior with NaN values, returning 0 for (NaN | 0) while Math.floor(NaN) returns NaN.
• Compatibility Issues: It may not be compatible with certain linting tools such as jsLint.

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