Re: Guile and speed (Re: [Freeciv-Dev] Adding scripting language)

[Jules Bean <jmlb2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lalo Martins wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Aug 31, 1999 at 11:14:35PM +0100, Jules Bean wrote:
> > Artur Biesiadowski wrote:
> >
> > > My proposition is to add can_build array to city and send it with city
> > > data - filling on server with results of all can_build routines. It
> > > shouldn't be problem for network traffic (bitfield will maybe 20-30
> > > bytes and city packet is few times larger), but I'm not sure how it will
> > > affect cpu usage - after all a lot of scripts will have to be run every
> > > turn for every thing that changes state.
> >
> > True.  It is for this reason that I favour a 'partially compiled'
> > language - like perl or java - since they tend to run faster.
> 
> Actually Guile is very good at that; it's awfully slow (at least
> with the version people have today) to _load_ code, and to start
> itself, but once code is `memoized' it runs as fast as any
> partially compiled stuff - like perl or python, and faster than
> java in my experience.

Cool.  Score one for guile.

> 
> Actually, I said in the Guile list something about partially
> compiled perl files and they flamed me about this (wich made me
> research the subject deeper); in fact, perl is _not_ partially
> compiled. It compiles to memory, not to a file, just like Guile.
> Now with perl 5.005 (is this the correct number?) it includes a
> compiler, but that's not used by default.

They were being pedantic.  Just because perl only compiles to memory,
that doesn't make it any less compilation.  It includes many things
characteristic of compilation, such as syntax checking and
optimisation..

Jules


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