C gcc versus Java fastest performance 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 seconds, less gz source code. fannkuch-redux source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #6 2.16 19,516 1582 8.53 C gcc #4 14.20 19,516 1190 14.20 C gcc #5 6.91 19,644 917 27.13 C gcc #3 39.57 19,516 574 39.57 Java #3 40.76 42,844 1264 40.83 C gcc 42.24 19,640 514 42.24 Java 10.98 42,812 1289 43.36 C gcc #2 11.16 19,644 1563 43.66 Java #2 44.03 40,916 520 44.09 n-body source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #9 2.10 19,520 1639 2.10 C gcc #8 3.70 19,520 1398 3.69 C gcc #4 4.30 19,520 1496 4.30 C gcc #6 4.96 19,520 1186 4.96 C gcc 5.18 19,520 1179 5.18 C gcc #2 5.18 19,520 1270 5.18 C gcc #3 5.24 19,520 1214 5.24 C gcc #5 5.41 19,648 1436 5.41 C gcc #7 6.81 19,520 1250 6.81 Java #5 6.78 41,384 1435 6.82 Java #4 6.87 41,188 1495 6.91 Java #2 7.42 41,308 1430 7.46 Java #3 7.47 41,256 1436 7.51 Java 7.85 41,512 1437 7.89 spectral-norm source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #6 0.41 19,760 1203 1.61 C gcc #5 0.72 19,520 576 2.84 C gcc #7 0.73 19,520 906 2.84 C gcc #4 0.72 19,520 1145 2.84 C gcc 5.39 19,520 390 5.39 C gcc #3 1.43 19,520 470 5.68 Java #3 1.66 42,924 762 6.21 Java 7.07 42,268 521 7.13 Java #2 2.40 42,164 956 9.25 C gcc #8 Make Error mandelbrot source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #6 1.28 33,280 1141 5.11 C gcc #8 1.63 33,536 788 6.30 C gcc #4 3.48 33,152 805 13.85 C gcc 3.49 32,896 828 13.88 C gcc #7 3.49 33,152 1000 13.89 C gcc #3 3.54 32,768 769 14.07 Java #4 4.45 104,488 667 16.20 Java #2 4.13 83,152 802 16.22 C gcc #9 4.22 33,280 700 16.30 Java #6 4.28 83,056 808 16.84 C gcc #2 24.97 19,520 412 24.97 Java 25.70 41,388 671 25.76 Java #3 7.86 83,424 910 30.96 pidigits source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #2 0.81 19,520 422 0.81 C gcc 0.88 19,520 459 0.88 Java #3 0.93 40,860 770 0.96 Java #2 1.34 44,524 944 1.42 Java 7.61 486,236 807 8.69 regex-redux source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #5 0.80 152,388 1403 2.03 C gcc #2 3.23 103,296 1121 3.23 C gcc #4 0.96 152,256 1237 3.27 C gcc #3 1.72 103,680 1273 3.29 Java 8.38 666,804 875 16.42 Java #3 5.17 671,372 935 17.04 Java #6 5.57 1,234,928 746 17.17 fasta source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #9 0.78 19,520 1469 0.78 C gcc #5 1.24 19,520 1286 1.24 C gcc #6 0.93 19,648 1936 2.73 C gcc #8 2.79 19,520 1299 2.79 C gcc #4 3.02 19,520 1244 3.02 C gcc #2 0.83 19,520 2270 3.26 Java #4 3.15 42,784 1528 3.26 C gcc #7 0.85 19,648 2018 3.29 Java #6 1.18 48,408 2549 3.71 C gcc 3.74 19,520 1209 3.73 Java #5 1.24 48,752 2478 3.81 C gcc #3 4.49 19,520 825 4.48 Java #2 4.35 47,184 1259 4.50 k-nucleotide source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc 3.80 130,432 1512 12.64 Java 5.01 368,104 1821 16.33 Java #6 7.18 365,592 1614 25.01 Java #3 7.30 365,348 1642 25.39 Java #4 34.43 195,584 1887 34.79 Java #5 16.05 219,872 2225 38.17 reverse-complement source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #7 0.43 499,872 1899 0.58 C gcc #8 0.50 499,872 1551 0.86 C gcc #6 0.96 703,064 828 1.37 C gcc #5 1.50 994,176 654 1.50 C gcc #2 1.05 994,432 757 1.55 C gcc #4 3.66 500,480 716 3.66 Java #6 3.33 2,031,460 760 3.96 Java #5 4.73 1,096,344 1115 4.86 Java #4 5.57 1,889,928 656 5.68 Java #7 23.06 1,036,296 1654 6.31 Java #3 Bad Output Java #8 Bad Output binary-trees source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #2 1.51 169,088 816 4.17 C gcc #3 1.89 134,400 842 4.59 Java #4 4.50 2,081,744 846 5.22 Java #3 4.80 2,076,860 546 5.59 Java #6 4.84 2,097,072 535 5.60 Java #2 4.93 2,067,656 558 5.67 Java #7 2.57 1,728,452 841 8.00 C gcc 20.83 264,192 660 20.83 C gcc #5 8.27 351,232 914 30.31 C gcc 13.2.0-4ubuntu3 Java java 22 2024-03-19 Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 22+36-2370, mixed mode, sharing) all C gcc programs & measurements all Java programs & measurements