Re: Numerical Computation and Ada95

[dvdeug@x8b4e53cd.dhcp.okstate.edu (David Starner)]

On Thu, 10 May 2001 08:45:25 +0300, N&J <nikogian@hotmail.com> wrote:
> From what you said I undestand that nobody has ever compared Ada's timing
> performance with Fortran77/90/95, C and C++ in programs that require lots of
> arithmetic and logical operations (perhaps FFT). I think I will try to do it
> when I learn Ada95 better

Not true; many people have probably compared it. The point was,
thought, that keeping the platform constant, the speed ratio of your
conversion of Fortran 77 code to Ada will differ from the speed
ratio of my Ada code converted to Fortran 77 will differ from two
independent writings of the same algorithm in different languages,
which will differ from another pair of independent writings of the
same code. Then you have to worry about compilers; if GNAT makes one
piece of code run 45% faster then when compiled with ObjectAda, and
ObjectAda makes another run 52% faster than when compiled with GNAT,
which compiler do you use?

Performance between languages is impossible to measure; one system
change can change all your results. No matter what you say, there
will be expections. Someone quoted an old IBM machine that ran small
APL programs faster than any PL/I program could be run. 

-- 
David Starner - dstarner98@aasaa.ofe.org
Pointless website: http://dvdeug.dhis.org
"I don't care if Bill personally has my name and reads my email and 
laughs at me. In fact, I'd be rather honored." - Joseph_Greg