Speed of Java (was: Linux on old laptop in two stages)

[Ben Scott]

On 6/5/06, Paul Lussier <p.lussier at comcast.net> wrote:
>>   Be warned that Java may be unbearably slow on that system.  (Given
>> that it's irritatingly slow on much newer systems.)
>
> By what measurement do you determine that Java is slow ...

  My measurement is qualitative, not quantitative.  Everything that
uses Java that I've ever encountered on any machine takes a long time
to start and uses up gobs and gobs of memory, regardless of how
trivial the program.  Interactive programs all have a somewhat
unresponsive UI, and go non-responsive for seconds at a time at
seemingly random intervals.

  IME.  YMMV.  FWIW.  HAND.

> ... and compared to what?

  Compared to molasses crawling backwards uphill in January.  ;-)

  Okay, that one might not be all that scientific.  ;-)

> Is it slower for developement, or just running it?

  Running software in the JVM/JRE.  It could be that compiling
Java-source to Java-bytecode is fast and low-memory; I wouldn't know.

-- Ben