Warp wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> http://augustss.blogspot.com/2007/11/benchmarking-ray-tracing-haskell-vs.html
> 
>   That's the problem with trying to "benchmark" different languages against
> each other: Is your implementation of the task in a given language optimal,
> or at the very least, fair?
> 
>   It's easy to make a completely sub-par implementation of an algorithm
> in a language and then make a much better implementation in another and
> then conclude that the latter language is "faster" than the former.

In a way, this is why the Great Language Shootout is somewhat better. 
You have *lots* of people writing and improving the code, not just one.

As you say, if one particular person sits down and writes the same 
program in two langauges, and one is vastly slower than the other, it 
probably just means they don't know that languages very well.

By allowing *anyone* to submit benchmarks, you ensure that there's a 
reasonable chance that all the code submitted will eventually converge 
on reasonably optimal.

OTOH, even the Shootout probably isn't especially scientific. But then, 
trying to define which language is "better" is a fairly vague concept 
anyway...

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