First, thanks to everyone who responded. I wasn't expecting much response to the question; and was surprised by the multitude of alternatives offered. Thank you all.

Upshot: I coded up several of the more distinct variations in JS and plugged them into the JS code and made a (probably clumsy and naive) attempt to measure the results; and the outcome was that I couldn't discern any consistent benefit from any of them.

Perhaps if I had more experience with JS; or if the table size was larger; but I suspect that JIT compilation and optimisation is playing a part here.

So, for now, I'm sticking with the crudely simple version I posted in the OP for this purpose, and I'll re-visit this thread next time I have the same problem either in Perl; or with a larger table size.

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". I'm with torvalds on this
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. Agile (and TDD) debunked

In reply to Re: A better way of lookup? (Thanks and outcome.) by BrowserUk
in thread A better way of lookup? by BrowserUk

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