Lisp SBCL versus C++ g++ 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++ g++ #6 3.25 19,788 1535 12.89 C++ g++ #7 13.93 19,660 1156 13.93 Lisp SBCL #5 30.39 49,920 689 30.38 C++ g++ #5 7.97 19,788 987 31.14 C++ g++ #3 36.80 19,660 600 36.80 C++ g++ #4 9.47 19,660 1445 37.11 Lisp SBCL #3 37.50 32,768 833 37.50 C++ g++ #2 9.82 19,656 1446 38.58 Lisp SBCL #4 10.13 33,152 1531 39.42 C++ g++ 10.59 19,660 1065 41.61 Lisp SBCL #2 49.10 19,668 525 49.09 n-body source secs mem gz cpu secs C++ g++ #0 2.14 19,676 1933 2.14 C++ g++ #7 3.97 19,804 1815 3.97 C++ g++ #2 4.20 19,676 1884 4.19 C++ g++ #3 5.30 19,804 1402 5.30 C++ g++ #9 5.43 19,676 1536 5.43 C++ g++ #4 5.44 19,804 1434 5.44 C++ g++ #5 6.01 19,676 1544 6.00 C++ g++ 6.49 19,676 1666 6.49 C++ g++ #8 6.57 19,676 1524 6.57 C++ g++ #6 6.89 19,676 1674 6.89 Lisp SBCL #2 7.81 19,816 1408 7.81 Lisp SBCL 9.26 19,816 1373 9.26 spectral-norm source secs mem gz cpu secs C++ g++ #6 0.72 19,812 1050 2.84 C++ g++ #5 1.32 19,684 1050 5.25 Lisp SBCL #6 5.32 20,736 512 5.32 Lisp SBCL 5.32 19,816 639 5.32 C++ g++ 5.36 19,684 459 5.36 Lisp SBCL #3 1.45 19,688 893 5.45 Lisp SBCL #8 1.45 19,688 799 5.46 Lisp SBCL #7 1.44 19,816 769 5.46 Lisp SBCL #2 1.46 19,816 920 5.46 C++ g++ #8 1.52 19,684 1284 6.04 mandelbrot source secs mem gz cpu secs C++ g++ 0.89 34,944 1797 3.46 C++ g++ #4 0.89 35,200 3554 3.47 C++ g++ #6 0.98 35,072 1014 3.89 C++ g++ #0 2.35 35,328 2752 9.28 C++ g++ #8 4.79 35,072 749 13.12 C++ g++ #5 13.33 34,688 596 13.33 C++ g++ #9 3.50 35,200 732 13.49 C++ g++ #7 3.49 35,072 1023 13.90 Lisp SBCL 4.75 50,944 2478 16.49 Lisp SBCL #4 4.18 42,752 2453 16.60 C++ g++ #2 16.90 34,560 700 16.90 Lisp SBCL #3 9.70 50,048 900 25.95 C++ g++ #3 27.26 19,804 421 27.25 pidigits source secs mem gz cpu secs C++ g++ #5 0.86 19,804 804 0.86 C++ g++ #4 0.88 19,804 521 0.88 Lisp SBCL #4 3.37 429,312 495 3.37 Lisp SBCL #3 3.38 434,560 499 3.38 Lisp SBCL #2 6.01 429,816 655 6.01 regex-redux source secs mem gz cpu secs C++ g++ #6 1.15 276,276 2856 2.18 C++ g++ #2 2.84 212,776 706 3.60 C++ g++ 3.62 212,180 662 3.62 C++ g++ #5 3.86 215,556 859 4.54 C++ g++ #3 12.41 217,580 859 17.91 Lisp SBCL #4 14.08 994,024 1977 29.33 C++ g++ #4 Make Error fasta source secs mem gz cpu secs C++ g++ #8 0.76 19,792 2758 1.51 C++ g++ #2 1.81 19,668 1129 1.81 C++ g++ 1.90 19,664 1064 1.90 C++ g++ #3 2.62 19,664 1311 2.62 C++ g++ #4 3.32 19,664 1291 3.32 C++ g++ #6 1.05 19,668 2326 3.85 C++ g++ #5 1.05 19,668 2345 3.88 Lisp SBCL #6 4.42 19,668 1763 4.42 Lisp SBCL #3 5.82 19,796 1592 5.82 Lisp SBCL 9.24 21,760 1430 9.24 Lisp SBCL #2 9.25 19,668 1628 9.25 C++ g++ #7 Make Error k-nucleotide source secs mem gz cpu secs C++ g++ #2 1.97 156,504 1634 5.87 C++ g++ #3 4.19 165,592 1280 13.77 C++ g++ 6.90 757,080 1452 14.68 Lisp SBCL #4 16.70 156,288 2292 16.70 Lisp SBCL #5 16.83 156,416 2323 16.83 Lisp SBCL #6 10.97 541,312 2485 40.13 Lisp SBCL 12.76 550,784 2431 41.85 Lisp SBCL #3 51.99 558,208 1297 51.99 Lisp SBCL #2 53.23 558,208 1291 53.23 reverse-complement source secs mem gz cpu secs C++ g++ #2 0.70 499,840 2099 0.70 C++ g++ #6 3.20 1,517,660 1827 4.22 Lisp SBCL 5.35 1,517,184 911 5.34 C++ g++ 6.56 980,060 599 6.56 C++ g++ #5 35.10 771,556 704 35.10 Lisp SBCL #2 Failed C++ g++ #3 Bad Output binary-trees source secs mem gz cpu secs C++ g++ #7 0.95 201,400 896 3.30 C++ g++ #5 1.14 200,660 891 3.98 C++ g++ #9 1.72 135,936 815 4.46 C++ g++ #6 1.88 266,112 851 4.47 C++ g++ #3 1.88 265,600 951 4.72 C++ g++ #8 2.18 265,984 826 5.11 Lisp SBCL #3 3.30 476,572 938 7.64 C++ g++ 2.65 2,040,792 760 9.07 Lisp SBCL 9.68 461,412 595 9.68 C++ g++ #2 21.51 265,856 514 21.51 C++ g++ #4 Make Error Lisp SBCL SBCL 2.4.2 C++ g++ Ubuntu 13.2.0-4ubuntu3 all Lisp SBCL programs & measurements all C++ g++ programs & measurements