[was: Re: Is OCaml fast?] OCaml Shootout task force

[Sylvain Le Gall <sylvain@le-gall.net>]

On 22-11-2010, Gerd Stolpmann <info@gerd-stolpmann.de> wrote:
> Am Montag, den 22.11.2010, 15:21 +0200 schrieb Thanassis Tsiodras:
>> I apologize beforehand if this is not the forum to ask.
>> 
>> I am on the fence about whether to learn OCaml or not, and while
>> reading an article called "Why OCaml"
>> (http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~murphyk/Software/Ocaml/why_ocaml.html), I saw
>> that OCaml was praised for the speed of the executables it generates -
>> and was referred to, speed-wise, as "second to none", except C and
>> C++.
>> 
>> However, when I actually went to the Language Shootout page suggested
>> in the article, I found out that OCaml is not 2nd, it is 13th, behind
>> languages like Haskell and C#...
>> (http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/u32/which-programming-languages-are-fastest.php)
>> 
>> Is it just hype, then? Or am I missing something?
>
> I think the shootout is not a good data source. There are definitely
> some very poor Ocaml results there, so I'd guess the shootout got
> recently more attention by enthusiasts of other languages, and the
> current Ocaml programs there are not very good. (I remember Ocaml was #1
> at the shootout a few years ago, faster than C.) So maybe a good
> opportunity to post better Ocaml solutions there?
>

Maybe it is time to join forces and update the shootout for OCaml?

If some people are interested here, I can setup a repository on the forge
to update all this tests. 

If I get 2 people interested, I will setup a VCS repository + project on
the forge, this afternoon. Drop me an email + preferred VCS (among svn,
git, darcs) and your account login on http://forge.ocamlcore.org. I will
take care, when ready, to made this code available in the shootout once
finished.

Regards,
Sylvain Le Gall