Language comparisons

[Doug Bagley]

"Nick Perkins" <nperkins7 at home.com> writes:
> I guess what I mean to say is that I would consider the 'Same Thing' tests
> to much more valid than the 'Same Way' tests.

I feel somewhat the same way.  I prefer the 'same thing' tests to the
'same way' test, but in my opinion, both kinds are interesting.

However, since it is much easier to write tests in the 'Same Way', I
have ended up with more of them.  I do plan on adding more tests where
the object is to accomplish a well defined task in the fastest manner,
and I'm open to suggestions (email please).

[...]
> I would like to see a summary/comparison of 'Same Way' tests versus
> 'Same Thing' tests.  If some languages are consistently 'better' in
> the 'Same Thing' tests than they are in the 'Same Way' tests, then
> that might indicate a bias in the 'way'.

Point taken ... I'll try to add that feature some time.  

> It's just that i have noticed that ( particularly in python ),
> seemingly efficient programs can often be made much faster.
> Things can usually be done many ways in python, and it is
> rarely obvious which will be fastest.

That matches my experience with Python too, but it may generally
apply to interpreted languages, because it isn't as easy (as in C,
for instance), to know how expensive any particular operation is
without in-depth knowledge of the languages internals.  That tends to
come with experience.

> ..Thanks for the website, keep up the good work!

You're welcome!  I'll try to keep improving it as it goes along.  All
constructive criticism is gladly received.

Cheers,
Doug