Re: Just how fast is LISP?

I have a compiler that produces code that is is at least twice as fast as
most C compilers with all optimizations turned on. This compiler has no
builtin optimization and is ridiculously fast. Its called 'as'. But then,
who would program in assembler except to perform speed critical or very
low level tasks?


I think this situation applies to a certain extent to the speed argument
between C and LISP. In theory, a LISP compiler could produce code that is
at least as fast as a C compiler for the 'same' program, but in practice
this LISP compiler would be far more complicated and slow than the
eqivalent C compiler. This is the penalty for programming in a higher
level language, just as there is a penalty for programming in C rather
than assembler.


Another reason for the difference in speed between C and LISP is the fact
that C is tailored to the standard machine architecture, whereas most
computers built these days are simply not designed to run programs written
in LISP.




Simon Marlow (simonm@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk)
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