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On 7/28/06, Peter Hickman <peter / semantico.com> wrote:
>
> Isak Hansen wrote:
> > When people want 'speed' they care about how fast the code runs, not
> > JVM startup time..
> Interesting, so just how to you run a Java program without the JVM
> start-up time?
>
> And if you can't run a Java program without the JVM start-up then your
> point is
> what exactly?


The problem is that you're not controlling for that startup time. If you
want to do a comparison of raw number-crunching performance, you can't
include processing time that's unrelated. A short list of what's wrong with
your benchmark:

- You include Ruby parse, startup, and init time
- You include Java startup and init time
- You include C startup and init time, however insignificant
- You do not post your code, system configuration, Java, Ruby, GCC, and
related library versions, Java and Ruby startup parameters, C compiler
settings, ......
- You expect us to trust that your knowledge of writing efficient code in
Java is without question (although if you've been doing it since 1992, maybe
you're right)
- You do not take into consideration the delay before runtime JIT happens in
the JVM

Every reputable benchmark or scientific study must provide full access to
not only test results but to the tests themselves, along with complete
documentation of methodology and process. To hide the mechanism and the
means behind these tests allows you to impose your own handicaps on each of
the platforms in question to further your point. To allow no rebuttal via
submissions of "better" Java code implies an obvious bias against that
platform, and your lack of knowlege about how that platform works taints
your results severely.

It's certainly possible that Java is slower for this particular algorithm,
even with an optimized version. However your means of benchmarking and
method of communicating results calls the entirety of your email into
question.

-- 
Contribute to RubySpec! @ www.headius.com/rubyspec
Charles Oliver Nutter @ headius.blogspot.com
Ruby User @ ruby.mn
JRuby Developer @ www.jruby.org
Application Architect @ www.ventera.com

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