Re: Java vs C++ speed (IO & Sorting)
Paavo Helde wrote:
This still does not convince me to dump C++ and switch over to Java,
first because of continuous casting and second, because of inability to
build clean abstraction layers. Maybe I'm wrong, I have not touched Java
in several years, but even if they appear equal now I still would not
switch because of inertia. Java should be at least twice as fast and
provide more convenient abstraction layers before I would think of
switching languages.
The voice of reason - there are many reasons to choose a programming language,
many more than mere "performance" for various values of the term. Robustness,
mentioned upthread, is arguably far more important. Expertise in the language
is important - if you are productive in C++ (or whatever) you might not want
to make the investment in becoming equally proficient in another language.
Java and C++ clearly both have their strengths, and having seen these
Benchmark Wars before I can reasonably conclude that they're roughly
comparable, at least both usable. Most benchmarks I've seen do seem to give
C++ the edge for CPU-bound processes by around 2:1, but none conclusively so.
Throughput measures for realistic applications do seem to tend toward
Java-based solutions, but a lot of that is attributable to the integration of
enterprise components more than the strength of the JVM per se.
Java-based enterprise systems tend to support operations better than C++-based
ones. Java platforms are highly amenable to instrumentation and operational
control. Operations presents a much higher portion of cost and risk than the
development phase of an application. Operations is far more important than
development. Developers tend to forget that.
Real mastery comes with fluency in a variety of languages, at least one in
each major category (systems/applications - C??/Java/COBOL, script -
JS/Ruby/Python/EL, shell - csh/bash/ksh). Use what's best for the project at
hand. To be a carpenter takes more than a hammer.
--
Lew