From: Ron Jeffries Date: 2002-04-10T10:30:57+09:00 Subject: Re: ruby speed? On Mon, 08 Apr 2002 01:14:05 GMT, Sean Chittenden wrote: >> > This isn't unexpected; speed isn't Ruby's main target. However, >> > if speed is a requirement, Ruby's C API kicks crap out of Perl. >> >> I guess I'm kind of intermediate level, but I'm not sure I >> understand what you mean by "Ruby's C API". Are you talking about >> the services documented in the README.EXT file which are used in >> writing Ruby extensions in C? Or is this something new, that I'm >> unaware of? Thanks for the info. > >That's correct, "Ruby's C API" is writing Ruby extensions in C as >documented in README.EXT. -sc While speed may not be Ruby's main target, telling people that they can make their Ruby programs faster by writing programs in C instead isn't entirely satisfying. There are many languages of similar power to Ruby that are substantially faster, and the techniques for making them faster have almost all been published. I like Ruby, and I'd like to see it become much more prominent. For that to happen, Ruby may need to improve in some significant ways, and speed might be one of them. What /is/ Ruby's "main target"? And what is the best path for getting there? Regards, Ronald E Jeffries http://www.XProgramming.com http://www.objectmentor.com I'm giving the best advice I have. You get to decide whether it's true for you.