Yes, you are absolutely right - semantics is quite different. But that's not what changes perf here - the difference comes from whether there is an explicit pro

Yes, you are absolutely right - semantics is quite different. But that's not what changes perf here - the difference comes from whether there is an explicit property load or a property load is an implicit part of the method call. This change is also made in the code that never executes during the benchmark run - which adds to a conundrum. There is a very V8 / Crankshaft specific thing going on here - slides try to explain it.