fastest-levenshtein vs natural vs levenshtein-edit-distance
String Similarity Measurement Libraries
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String Similarity Measurement Libraries

String similarity measurement libraries are essential tools in web development for tasks such as spell checking, search suggestions, and natural language processing. They provide algorithms to compute the distance between two strings, helping to identify how similar or different they are. These libraries can be used in various applications, including data deduplication, fuzzy searching, and text analysis, making them valuable for enhancing user experience and data quality.

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fastest-levenshtein18,200,44874221.3 kB1-MIT
natural308,97410,85713.8 MB787 months agoMIT
levenshtein-edit-distance206,2617212.4 kB0-MIT
Feature Comparison: fastest-levenshtein vs natural vs levenshtein-edit-distance

Performance

  • fastest-levenshtein:

    fastest-levenshtein is optimized for speed, making it the fastest option among the three. It uses efficient algorithms to minimize computational overhead, making it suitable for high-frequency operations where performance is paramount.

  • natural:

    natural may not be as fast as the other two for pure distance calculations, as it focuses on a broader set of NLP functionalities. However, it is efficient for tasks that require multiple NLP features.

  • levenshtein-edit-distance:

    levenshtein-edit-distance offers a balance between performance and simplicity. While not as fast as fastest-levenshtein, it provides reasonable performance for most applications without the complexity of optimization.

Functionality

  • fastest-levenshtein:

    fastest-levenshtein specializes solely in calculating Levenshtein distance, providing a focused and efficient solution for string similarity measurement.

  • natural:

    natural is a versatile library that includes various NLP features such as tokenization, stemming, and classification, in addition to string similarity measures, making it suitable for comprehensive text analysis.

  • levenshtein-edit-distance:

    levenshtein-edit-distance is dedicated to Levenshtein distance calculations, offering a straightforward API that is easy to integrate into projects without additional overhead.

Ease of Use

  • fastest-levenshtein:

    fastest-levenshtein has a simple API that allows for quick implementation, making it user-friendly for developers looking for a straightforward solution to string distance calculations.

  • natural:

    natural, while feature-rich, may require a steeper learning curve due to its extensive functionalities. However, it provides thorough documentation to assist users in navigating its features.

  • levenshtein-edit-distance:

    levenshtein-edit-distance is designed with clarity in mind, providing an intuitive interface that is easy to understand and use, especially for beginners or educational purposes.

Use Cases

  • fastest-levenshtein:

    best suited for applications requiring real-time performance, such as search engines, autocomplete features, or any scenario where rapid string comparison is essential.

  • natural:

    perfect for applications that require a combination of string similarity and other NLP tasks, such as chatbots, text analysis tools, or any project that benefits from a broader NLP toolkit.

  • levenshtein-edit-distance:

    ideal for projects where simplicity and clarity are prioritized, such as educational tools or basic applications needing string comparison without complex requirements.

Community and Support

  • fastest-levenshtein:

    has a smaller community but is focused on performance, which may appeal to developers prioritizing speed over extensive features.

  • natural:

    boasts a larger community and extensive documentation, making it easier to find resources, tutorials, and support for a wide range of NLP tasks.

  • levenshtein-edit-distance:

    has a moderate user base, providing adequate community support and documentation for basic usage.

How to Choose: fastest-levenshtein vs natural vs levenshtein-edit-distance
  • fastest-levenshtein:

    Choose fastest-levenshtein if you need a high-performance solution for calculating Levenshtein distance with minimal overhead. It's ideal for applications where speed is critical, such as real-time search suggestions or autocomplete features.

  • natural:

    Select natural if you need a comprehensive natural language processing toolkit that includes not only string similarity measures but also tokenization, stemming, and classification. It's perfect for applications that require a broader range of NLP functionalities.

  • levenshtein-edit-distance:

    Opt for levenshtein-edit-distance if you require a straightforward implementation of the Levenshtein distance algorithm with a focus on clarity and ease of use. This package is suitable for educational purposes or projects where performance is not the primary concern.

Similar Npm Packages to fastest-levenshtein

fastest-levenshtein is a JavaScript library that provides a highly efficient implementation of the Levenshtein distance algorithm. This algorithm calculates the minimum number of single-character edits (insertions, deletions, or substitutions) required to change one word into another. The fastest-levenshtein package is particularly useful for applications that require string similarity comparisons, such as spell checkers, search engines, and natural language processing tasks. Its performance optimizations make it a preferred choice for developers looking to implement Levenshtein distance calculations in their projects.

While fastest-levenshtein is a great option, there are other libraries that also provide similar functionality. Here are a few alternatives:

  • levenshtein-edit-distance is a straightforward implementation of the Levenshtein distance algorithm. It is easy to use and integrates well into various JavaScript projects. This library is suitable for developers who need a simple solution for calculating edit distances without the performance optimizations that fastest-levenshtein offers. If your application does not require high-performance calculations and you prefer a more straightforward implementation, levenshtein-edit-distance may be a good fit.
  • natural is a comprehensive natural language processing (NLP) library for JavaScript. It includes various algorithms and utilities for text processing, including the Levenshtein distance calculation. If you are working on a project that requires multiple NLP functionalities, such as tokenization, stemming, or classification, natural provides a more extensive toolkit. However, if you only need to calculate the Levenshtein distance, this library might be overkill.

To compare these packages, check out the following link: Comparing fastest-levenshtein vs levenshtein-edit-distance vs natural.

Similar Npm Packages to natural

natural is a general natural language processing (NLP) library for Node.js. It provides a suite of tools for various NLP tasks, including tokenization, stemming, classification, phonetics, and more. With its easy-to-use API, developers can integrate natural language processing capabilities into their applications without needing extensive knowledge of the underlying algorithms. Natural is particularly useful for projects that require text analysis, language understanding, or any form of linguistic processing.

While natural offers a robust set of features, there are other libraries that also provide NLP functionalities. Here are a few alternatives:

  • compromise is a lightweight NLP library that focuses on providing a simple and intuitive API for processing and understanding natural language. It excels in tasks such as part-of-speech tagging, named entity recognition, and text manipulation. Compromise is particularly well-suited for applications that require quick and efficient text processing without the overhead of more complex NLP libraries. Its flexible and modular design allows developers to easily extend its capabilities to fit their specific needs.
  • retext is a powerful text processing library that focuses on natural language processing and analysis. It is built on a plugin architecture, allowing developers to create custom plugins for specific tasks, such as linting, transforming, or analyzing text. Retext is ideal for projects that require a more modular approach to text processing, as it enables developers to compose various plugins to achieve complex NLP tasks. If your application needs to perform extensive text analysis or transformation, retext provides a flexible and extensible framework.

To see how natural compares with compromise and retext, check out the comparison: Comparing compromise vs natural vs retext.

Similar Npm Packages to levenshtein-edit-distance

levenshtein-edit-distance is an npm package that calculates the Levenshtein distance between two strings. The Levenshtein distance is a measure of how many single-character edits (insertions, deletions, or substitutions) are required to change one string into another. This package is particularly useful in applications such as spell checking, DNA sequencing, and natural language processing, where determining the similarity between strings is essential.

While levenshtein-edit-distance is a great tool for string comparison, there are other libraries that offer similar functionalities. Here are a couple of alternatives:

  • natural is a comprehensive natural language processing (NLP) library for JavaScript. It includes a variety of tools for text processing, including tokenization, stemming, classification, phonetics, and string similarity measures, including the Levenshtein distance. If you are looking for a more extensive NLP toolkit that includes string comparison features alongside other text processing capabilities, natural is an excellent choice.
  • string-similarity is a lightweight library that provides a simple way to compare strings and calculate their similarity based on various algorithms, including the Levenshtein distance. It is designed to be easy to use and integrates well into projects where you need to measure how similar two strings are. If you need a straightforward solution for string comparison without the overhead of a larger NLP library, string-similarity is a suitable alternative.

For a detailed comparison of these packages, check out the following link: Comparing levenshtein-edit-distance vs natural vs string-similarity.

README for fastest-levenshtein

fastest-levenshtein :rocket:

Fastest JS/TS implemenation of Levenshtein distance.
Measure the difference between two strings.

Build Status Coverage Status Language grade: JavaScript npm

$ npm i fastest-levenshtein

Usage

Node

const {distance, closest} = require('fastest-levenshtein')

// Print levenshtein-distance between 'fast' and 'faster' 
console.log(distance('fast', 'faster'))
//=> 2

// Print string from array with lowest edit-distance to 'fast'
console.log(closest('fast', ['slow', 'faster', 'fastest']))
//=> 'faster'

Deno

import {distance, closest} from 'https://deno.land/x/fastest_levenshtein/mod.ts'

// Print levenshtein-distance between 'fast' and 'faster' 
console.log(distance('fast', 'faster'))
//=> 2

// Print string from array with lowest edit-distance to 'fast'
console.log(closest('fast', ['slow', 'faster', 'fastest']))
//=> 'faster'

Benchmark

I generated 500 pairs of strings with length N. I measured the ops/sec each library achieves to process all the given pairs. Higher is better.

Test TargetN=4N=8N=16N=32N=64N=128N=256N=512N=1024
fastest-levenshtein44423237021076445951049291.586.6422.245.473
js-levenshtein2126110030293982422357.6214.773.7170.934
leven196886884160643611730.347.6041.9290.478
fast-levenshtein185776112126534589.4122.705.6761.4280.348
levenshtein-edit-distance229687445149340910928.077.0951.7890.445

Relative Performance

This image shows the relative performance between fastest-levenshtein and js-levenshtein (the 2nd fastest). fastest-levenshtein is always a lot faster. y-axis shows "times faster".

Benchmark

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE.md file for details

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