Fastest cpu secs PHP versus Ruby 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 PHP #2 12,612 441 190.33 PHP #3 12,624 1160 230.54 PHP #4 47,808 1162 232.59 PHP 12,764 482 237.28 Ruby #2 288,852 1455 1,010.75 Ruby 285,268 384 1,748.13 n-body source mem gz cpu PHP #3 12,372 1082 66.39 Ruby #3 285,504 1163 219.69 Ruby #2 285,552 1137 224.66 spectral-norm source mem gz cpu PHP 35,208 1152 27.96 PHP #2 13,444 397 55.81 PHP #3 40,068 1210 60.02 Ruby #4 287,424 326 113.59 Ruby 286,944 292 142.22 Ruby #5 288,548 758 216.98 mandelbrot source mem gz cpu PHP 12,664 449 86.95 PHP #3 140,544 875 92.75 Ruby #5 324,320 970 655.37 Ruby #4 409,304 857 857.98 Ruby #2 361,904 880 1,069.66 Ruby #3 285,212 307 1,470.34 Ruby #7 Failed Ruby #6 Failed pidigits source mem gz cpu PHP #5 13,728 399 0.92 PHP #4 13,656 389 0.93 PHP #3 13,804 504 0.95 PHP #2 14,172 545 1.46 Ruby #5 846,476 485 1.69 Ruby #2 613,348 658 2.74 Ruby 451,736 518 17.65 PHP 14,912 750 329.76 regex-redux source mem gz cpu PHP 178,712 816 3.66 Ruby #3 649,832 724 23.22 Ruby #2 684,764 437 23.23 Ruby #9 678,228 321 25.87 fasta source mem gz cpu PHP #3 12,448 1062 20.99 Ruby #6 340,624 1069 27.24 PHP #2 12,696 1050 28.67 Ruby #3 337,560 1002 50.87 Ruby #4 541,176 860 97.62 Ruby #5 286,228 995 98.69 Ruby #2 480,812 743 153.89 k-nucleotide source mem gz cpu PHP #4 257,260 1079 69.91 Ruby #2 455,288 420 243.58 Ruby #7 657,660 785 271.49 Ruby 408,036 576 281.84 Ruby #3 461,428 540 282.00 reverse-complement source mem gz cpu PHP 1,487,780 318 9.64 PHP #3 528,172 446 11.26 PHP #2 1,784,488 281 11.31 Ruby #5 1,874,980 295 11.49 Ruby #3 2,272,876 482 19.15 Ruby #2 774,468 264 19.40 Ruby #4 2,273,936 601 22.60 Ruby 2,273,352 514 32.89 binary-trees source mem gz cpu PHP #3 1,561,956 428 51.64 PHP #2 748,408 423 62.27 PHP 748,424 451 62.40 PHP #4 1,558,972 779 62.76 PHP #7 1,589,184 760 64.15 Ruby #4 667,224 364 68.23 Ruby 667,228 376 71.73 Ruby #3 896,992 400 72.06 Ruby #2 667,172 378 72.24 Ruby #5 671,376 1008 75.52 PHP #5 803,212 1040 85.70 PHP #6 802,924 868 90.44 PHP PHP 8.1.5 (cli) (built: May 5 2022 10:44:00) (NTS) Copyright (c) The PHP Group Zend Engine v4.1.5, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies Ruby ruby 3.1.2p20 (2022-04-12 revision 4491bb740a) [x86_64-linux] --yjit all PHP programs & measurements all Ruby programs & measurements