[Discuss] Interpreters vs Compilers

[Noel Burton-Krahn]

What a great thread!  Here are some links.

Here's a good site for comparing various languages, compiled and
interpreted by running time, memory usage, and code size for many
different kinds of programs:

The Computer Language Benchmarks Game
http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/

Yes, Perl and Python completely suck in CPU time compared to C/C++ and
even Java (though Java sucks in memory usage).  But note that Perl and
Python programs rule in code size.  That's their real strength: less
coding means less (expensive) developer time and less bug fixing.
Also, the development cycle for interpreted languages like Perl and Python
is much faster: edit and run vs edit, compile, link, run.

If you really can't make up you mind between compiled and interpreted,
check out D Digital Mars http://www.digitalmars.com/d/. It compiles
and runs as fast as C; It has all the goodies like garbage collection
found in more modern languages; and it comes with an interpreter to
run programs without having to compile them first!

Bruce Eckel was a C programmer, then a Java fan, and now loves
Python:

Bruce Eckel
5-2-03 Strong Typing vs. Strong Testing
http://mindview.net/WebLog/log-0025


~Noel


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Blomfield" <jabfield at shaw.ca>
To: <jabfield at shaw.ca>; <discuss at vlug.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 5:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Discuss] Interpreters vs Compilers


>> Wow! Did I open a can of worms. Keep going guys!
> 
> John Blomfield
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