A performance comparison of ad-hoc programs in several languages that generate floating point random numbers.
| Language | Compiler/Interpreter | Version | Runtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | gcc | 9.3.0 | 1.458s |
| J | jconsole | 901 | 1.584s |
| Perl | perl | 5.32.0 | 3.176s |
| OCaml | ocamlopt | 4.10.0 | 3.458s |
| gawk | gawk | 5.1.0 | 3.525s |
| Fortran | gfortran | 9.3.0 | 3.705s |
| GNU-Prolog | gplc | 1.4.5 | 3.917s |
| Python | python3 | 3.8.5 | 5.008s |
| Ruby | ruby | 2.6.6p146 | 6.297s |
| OCaml | ocaml | 4.10.0 | 8.790s |
| Rust | rustc | 1.45.2 | 9.521s |
| lua | lua | 5.2.4 | 12.940s |
| SWI-Prolog | swipl | 8.1.15 | 17.334s |
| tcl | tclsh | 8.6 | 23.299s |
| JavaScript | node | 12.21.0 | 23.639s |
| Octave | octave | 5.2.0 | 23.707s |
| Common-Lisp | sbcl | 2.0.0 | 24.708s |
| nim | nim | 1.2.6 | 25.176s |
| Haskell | ghc | 8.8.4 | 27.684s |
| Scala | scalac | 2.13.3 | 27.962s |
| Scala | scala | 2.13.3 | 29.589s |
| zig | zig | 0.6.0 | 34.845s |
| bash | bash | 4.4.23 | 55.462s |
| guile | guile | 2.2.7 | 101.652s |
| Haskell | runhaskell | 8.8.4 | 177.777s |
Tests were run on a ThinkPad T460s (Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM) running Nixos 20.09.
$ time ./gen.sh 6000000 >data-bash
real 0m55.462s
user 0m46.309s
sys 0m9.054s
$ bash --version
GNU bash, version 4.4.23(1)-release (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
$ time gawk -f gen.awk 6000000 >data-gawk
real 0m3.525s
user 0m3.489s
sys 0m0.036s
$ gawk --version
GNU Awk 5.1.0, API: 3.0
Copyright (C) 1989, 1991-2020 Free Software Foundation.
$ gcc -Wall -Werror -O2 -o gen gen.c
$ time ./gen 6000000 >data-c
real 0m1.458s
user 0m1.312s
sys 0m0.052s
$ gcc --version
gcc (GCC) 9.3.0
$ gfortran -o gen gen.f90
$ time ./gen 6000000 >data-gfortran
real 0m3.705s
user 0m3.658s
sys 0m0.043s
$ gfortran --version
GNU Fortran (GCC) 9.3.0
$ ghc -O2 -o gen gen.hs
$ time ./gen 6000000 >data-ghc
real 0m27.684s
user 0m27.513s
sys 0m0.165s
$ ghc --version
The Glorious Glasgow Haskell Compilation System, version 8.8.4
$ gplc --no-top-level gen.prolog
$ export GLOBALSZ=6000000; time ./gen 6000000 >data-gprolog
real 0m3.917s
user 0m3.574s
sys 0m0.249s
$ gplc --version
Prolog compiler (GNU Prolog) 1.4.5
$ time guile -e main gen.scm 6000000 >data-guile
real 1m41.652s
user 2m10.645s
sys 0m1.829s
$ guile --version
guile (GNU Guile) 2.2.7
Copyright (C) 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
$ time ./gen.ijs 6000000 >data-j
real 0m1.584s
user 0m1.342s
sys 0m0.127s
$ jconsole
9!:14 ''
j901/j64/linux/beta/GPL3/unknown/1980-01-01T00:00:00
$ time lua gen.lua 6000000 >data-lua
real 0m12.940s
user 0m6.117s
sys 0m6.785s
$ lua -v
Lua 5.2.4 Copyright (C) 1994-2015 Lua.org, PUC-Rio
$ nim c gen.nim
$ time ./gen 6000000 >data-nim
real 0m25.176s
user 0m18.242s
sys 0m6.849s
$ nim --version
Nim Compiler Version 1.2.6 [Linux: amd64]
Compiled at 2020-07-29
Copyright (c) 2006-2020 by Andreas Rumpf
$ time node gen.js 6000000 >data-node
real 0m23.639s
user 0m16.058s
sys 0m7.758s
$ node --version
v12.21.0
$ time ocaml gen.ml 6000000 >data-ocaml
real 0m8.790s
user 0m8.608s
sys 0m0.089s
$ ocamlopt gen.ml
$ time ./a.out 6000000 >data-ocamlopt
real 0m3.458s
user 0m3.322s
sys 0m0.039s
$ time ./gen.octave 6000000 >data-octave
real 0m23.707s
user 0m10.337s
sys 0m13.274s
$ octave --version
GNU Octave, version 5.2.0
$ time ./gen.pl 6000000 >data-perl
real 0m3.176s
user 0m3.034s
sys 0m0.050s
$ perl --version
This is perl 5, version 32, subversion 0 (v5.32.0) built for x86_64-linux-thread-multi
$ time ./gen.py 6000000 >data-python
real 0m5.008s
user 0m4.821s
sys 0m0.186s
$ python3 --version
Python 3.8.5
$ time ./gen.rb 6000000 >data-ruby
real 0m6.297s
user 0m6.241s
sys 0m0.054s
$ ruby --version
ruby 2.6.6p146 (2020-03-31) [x86_64-linux]
$ time ./gen.hs 6000000 >data-runhaskell
real 2m57.777s
user 1m39.441s
sys 1m18.366s
$ runhaskell --version
runghc 8.8.4
$ cargo build --release
$ time ./target/release/gen 6000000 >../data-rust
real 0m9.521s
user 0m3.198s
sys 0m6.228s
$ rustc --version
rustc 1.45.2
$ time sbcl --script gen.lisp 6000000 >data-sbcl
real 0m24.708s
user 0m17.965s
sys 0m6.578s
$ sbcl --version
SBCL 2.0.0.nixos
$ time scala Gen.scala 6000000 >data-scala
real 0m29.589s
user 0m22.191s
sys 0m13.925s
$ scala --version
Scala code runner version 2.13.3 -- Copyright 2002-2020, LAMP/EPFL and Lightbend, Inc.
$ scalac Gen.scala
$ time scala Gen 6000000 >data-scalac
real 0m27.962s
user 0m15.676s
sys 0m14.175s
$ scalac --version
Scala compiler version 2.13.3 -- Copyright 2002-2020, LAMP/EPFL and Lightbend, Inc.
$ time swipl -O gen.swi.prolog -- 6000000 >data-swipl
real 0m17.334s
user 0m10.432s
sys 0m6.896s
$ swipl --version
SWI-Prolog version 8.1.15 for x86_64-linux
$ time tclsh gen.tcl 6000000 >data-tcl
real 0m23.299s
user 0m15.710s
sys 0m7.492s
$ zig build-exe gen.zig --release-safe -target native
$ time ./gen 6000000 >data-zig
real 0m34.845s
user 0m7.488s
sys 0m27.354s
$ zig version
0.6.0