TY - JOUR
T1 - Timing trials, or the trials of timing
T2 - Experiments with scripting and user-interface languages
AU - Kernighan, Brian W.
AU - Van Wyk, Christopher J.
PY - 1998/1/1
Y1 - 1998/1/1
N2 - Experiments are described to see how fast various popular scripting and user-interface languages run on a spectrum of representative tasks. Variations are found in performance, depending on many factors, some uncontrollable and even unknowable. A few general principles hold: compiled code usually runs faster than interpreted code; memory-related issues and the effects of memory hierarchies are pervasive; and the timing services provided by programs and operating systems are woefully inadequate. Although each language shines in some situations, there are visible and sometimes surprising deficiencies even in what should be mainstream applications.
AB - Experiments are described to see how fast various popular scripting and user-interface languages run on a spectrum of representative tasks. Variations are found in performance, depending on many factors, some uncontrollable and even unknowable. A few general principles hold: compiled code usually runs faster than interpreted code; memory-related issues and the effects of memory hierarchies are pervasive; and the timing services provided by programs and operating systems are woefully inadequate. Although each language shines in some situations, there are visible and sometimes surprising deficiencies even in what should be mainstream applications.
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U2 - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-024X(19980710)28:8<819::AID-SPE184>3.0.CO;2-O
DO - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-024X(19980710)28:8<819::AID-SPE184>3.0.CO;2-O
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0032120180
SN - 0038-0644
VL - 28
SP - 819
EP - 843
JO - Software - Practice and Experience
JF - Software - Practice and Experience
IS - 8
ER -