Java versus C gcc 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 2.10 11,236 1576 8.34 C gcc #4 14.04 11,236 1183 14.03 C gcc #5 7.53 11,224 910 29.37 C gcc #3 39.56 11,248 567 39.56 Java #3 40.36 39,932 1257 40.43 C gcc 42.02 11,244 508 42.02 Java 10.71 40,324 1282 42.25 C gcc #2 11.12 11,236 1557 43.67 Java #2 46.85 38,492 514 46.91 n-body source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #9 2.08 11,392 1633 2.08 C gcc #8 4.01 11,392 1391 4.01 C gcc #4 4.41 11,392 1490 4.41 C gcc #5 5.42 11,392 1429 5.42 C gcc #6 6.61 11,392 1180 6.60 C gcc #2 6.70 11,392 1263 6.70 C gcc 6.75 11,392 1173 6.75 C gcc #7 6.80 11,392 1244 6.80 Java #5 6.77 40,632 1429 6.82 Java #4 6.86 40,516 1489 6.89 C gcc #3 7.25 11,392 1208 7.25 Java #2 7.32 40,508 1424 7.37 Java #3 7.38 40,492 1430 7.43 Java 7.76 40,724 1430 7.80 spectral-norm source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #6 0.40 11,392 1197 1.57 C gcc #4 0.71 11,392 1139 2.84 C gcc #7 0.71 11,392 900 2.84 C gcc #5 0.73 11,392 569 2.87 C gcc 5.39 11,392 383 5.38 C gcc #3 1.44 11,392 463 5.70 Java #3 1.54 42,324 756 5.93 Java 7.02 41,448 514 7.09 Java #2 2.39 41,092 950 9.25 C gcc #8 Make Error mandelbrot source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #6 1.30 32,992 1135 5.17 C gcc #8 1.63 33,256 782 6.29 C gcc #4 3.47 32,576 799 13.86 C gcc #7 3.49 33,000 994 13.87 C gcc 3.47 32,532 822 13.88 C gcc #3 3.52 32,860 763 14.07 Java #4 4.39 101,236 660 16.12 Java #2 4.11 83,924 796 16.21 C gcc #9 4.25 33,036 694 16.41 Java #6 4.27 84,532 802 16.86 C gcc #2 25.21 11,180 406 25.21 Java 25.66 40,860 665 25.73 Java #3 7.37 88,056 903 29.24 pidigits source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #2 0.81 11,392 416 0.81 C gcc 0.88 11,392 452 0.88 Java #3 0.92 38,380 764 0.95 Java #2 1.34 41,352 938 1.42 Java 7.44 430,616 800 8.45 regex-redux source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #5 0.80 152,148 1397 2.02 C gcc #2 3.22 103,248 1115 3.22 C gcc #4 0.94 152,004 1230 3.26 C gcc #3 1.72 103,812 1266 3.30 Java 8.58 767,552 868 16.68 Java #6 5.40 637,728 740 17.08 Java #3 5.45 736,544 929 17.42 fasta source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #9 0.78 11,284 1463 0.78 C gcc #5 1.30 11,392 1281 1.30 C gcc #6 0.94 11,392 1930 2.76 C gcc #8 2.91 11,392 1293 2.91 C gcc #4 3.07 11,392 1240 3.07 C gcc #2 0.81 11,392 2268 3.23 C gcc #7 0.84 11,392 2011 3.26 Java #4 3.17 40,400 1524 3.27 Java #6 1.16 46,068 2543 3.65 C gcc 3.72 11,392 1206 3.72 Java #5 1.23 46,180 2473 3.79 Java #2 4.32 44,708 1257 4.45 C gcc #3 4.49 11,288 819 4.49 k-nucleotide source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc 3.77 129,952 1506 12.67 Java 5.03 361,196 1812 16.40 Java #6 7.17 357,700 1607 25.04 Java #3 7.12 357,568 1635 25.06 Java #4 35.38 201,052 1882 35.83 Java #5 18.82 208,376 2219 40.84 reverse-complement source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #7 0.43 499,200 1895 0.62 C gcc #8 0.48 499,404 1543 0.80 C gcc #6 0.89 715,812 820 1.28 C gcc #5 1.46 993,848 647 1.46 C gcc #2 1.01 993,892 750 1.52 C gcc #4 3.68 500,380 709 3.68 Java #6 3.02 2,027,152 752 3.69 Java #5 4.46 1,094,060 1108 4.58 Java #4 5.51 1,886,052 651 5.62 Java #7 24.15 1,032,956 1647 6.20 Java #3 Bad Output Java #8 Bad Output binary-trees source secs mem gz cpu secs C gcc #2 1.57 168,448 809 4.11 C gcc #3 1.73 134,444 836 4.46 Java #4 4.47 2,116,292 840 5.15 Java #6 4.88 2,058,280 529 5.59 Java #3 4.91 2,101,240 540 5.61 Java #2 5.05 2,095,888 552 5.73 Java #7 2.52 1,726,148 835 7.89 C gcc 21.78 264,232 654 21.78 C gcc #5 8.49 351,268 908 31.09 Java openjdk 20 2023-03-21 OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 20+36-2344) OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build build 20+36-2344 mixed mode, sharing) C gcc 12.2.0-3ubuntu1 all Java programs & measurements all C gcc programs & measurements