Fastest cpu secs Ada 2012 GNAT versus C gcc Always look at the source code. If the fastest programs are hand-written vector instructions, does the host language matter? You might be more interested in the less optimised programs — more cpu seconds, less gz source code. fannkuch-redux source mem gz cpu C gcc #6 1,044 1576 8.26 C gcc #4 964 1183 13.89 C gcc #5 1,072 910 29.38 Ada 2012 GNAT #3 4,872 2113 32.71 C gcc #3 1,016 567 42.18 C gcc 988 508 43.27 C gcc #2 1,140 1557 45.01 n-body source mem gz cpu C gcc #9 992 1633 2.12 C gcc #8 8 1391 4.10 C gcc #4 1,304 1490 4.44 Ada 2012 GNAT #2 2,540 2617 5.72 Ada 2012 GNAT 2,544 1618 5.91 Ada 2012 GNAT #3 2,560 1750 5.97 C gcc #5 1,020 1429 6.10 C gcc #7 1,300 1244 6.79 C gcc #2 1,264 1263 7.19 C gcc #6 1,304 1180 7.21 C gcc #3 1,304 1208 7.23 C gcc 1,264 1173 7.55 Ada 2012 GNAT #5 2,588 2447 8.92 spectral-norm source mem gz cpu C gcc #6 1,068 1197 1.57 C gcc #5 1,344 569 2.85 C gcc #4 1,352 1139 2.85 Ada 2012 GNAT #4 4,832 2770 2.95 Ada 2012 GNAT 2,544 716 5.36 C gcc 1,248 383 5.38 C gcc #3 1,348 463 5.68 Ada 2012 GNAT #3 4,752 1717 5.72 mandelbrot source mem gz cpu C gcc #6 31,244 1135 5.12 C gcc #8 33,068 782 6.29 C gcc #4 32,704 799 13.81 C gcc #7 33,108 994 13.87 C gcc 29,692 822 13.91 C gcc #3 29,840 763 13.99 Ada 2012 GNAT #3 36,256 1819 15.82 C gcc #9 32,904 694 16.03 C gcc #2 1,040 400 25.30 Ada 2012 GNAT #2 2,524 577 28.41 pidigits source mem gz cpu C gcc 2,648 452 0.73 C gcc #2 2,920 416 0.74 Ada 2012 GNAT #2 5,176 1130 0.74 Ada 2012 GNAT 5,380 1157 4.48 regex-redux source mem gz cpu C gcc #5 152,220 1397 2.02 C gcc #2 103,084 1115 3.23 C gcc #4 152,056 1230 3.24 C gcc #3 103,540 1266 3.31 Ada 2012 GNAT #5 154,816 3640 12.23 Ada 2012 GNAT #6 Bad Output fasta source mem gz cpu C gcc #9 1,256 1463 0.78 C gcc #5 1,052 1281 1.30 Ada 2012 GNAT #5 2,584 2221 2.57 Ada 2012 GNAT #2 2,496 2153 2.63 C gcc #8 1,044 1293 2.74 C gcc #6 2,140 1930 2.76 C gcc #4 1,020 1240 3.06 C gcc #2 2,860 2268 3.25 C gcc #7 2,864 2011 3.28 C gcc 1,016 1206 3.67 C gcc #3 972 819 4.49 Ada 2012 GNAT 2,528 1379 6.24 k-nucleotide source mem gz cpu C gcc 130,156 1506 12.31 Ada 2012 GNAT #2 258,980 4908 13.87 reverse-complement source mem gz cpu C gcc #7 499,132 1965 0.57 C gcc #8 499,184 1627 0.77 C gcc #6 688,416 820 1.27 C gcc #5 994,088 647 1.42 C gcc #2 994,152 750 1.45 Ada 2012 GNAT #2 786,180 3283 2.37 C gcc #4 500,416 709 3.49 Ada 2012 GNAT 515,456 937 12.46 binary-trees source mem gz cpu C gcc #2 168,384 809 4.32 C gcc #3 134,068 836 4.71 Ada 2012 GNAT #4 203,012 2107 10.20 Ada 2012 GNAT 266,008 888 21.99 C gcc 263,664 654 22.16 C gcc #5 351,304 908 32.02 Ada 2012 GNAT #3 528,532 1266 34.15 Ada 2012 GNAT GNAT 11.2.0 C gcc 11.2.0-19ubuntu1 all Ada 2012 GNAT programs & measurements all C gcc programs & measurements