String#match vs String#match?

string_match-vs-string_match_question.rb

require 'benchmark/ips'

# Because the methods avoid creating a `MatchData` object or saving backref.
# So, when `MatchData` is not used, use `match?` instead of `match`.
def fast
  "aaacolorzzz".match?(/color/)
end

def slow
  "aaacolorzzz".match(/color/)
end

def slow2
  "aaacolorzzz" =~ /color/
end

Benchmark.ips do |x|
  x.report('match?')   { fast }
  x.report('match') { slow }
  x.report('=~')   { slow2 }
  x.compare!
end

__END__

$ ruby string_match-vs-string_match_question.rb
Warming up --------------------------------------
              match?   184.230k i/100ms
               match    66.680k i/100ms
                  =~    71.225k i/100ms
Calculating -------------------------------------
              match?      3.794M (±12.9%) i/s -     18.607M in   5.002392s
               match    841.440k (±10.5%) i/s -      4.201M in   5.065411s
                  =~    849.979k (±13.6%) i/s -      4.202M in   5.053991s

Comparison:
              match?:  3794456.2 i/s
                  =~:   849978.8 i/s - 4.46x  slower
               match:   841440.3 i/s - 4.51x  slower

ruby string_match-vs-string_match_question.rb  20.71s user 0.14s system 97% cpu 21.445 total