[R] An "R is slow"-article

[Paul Gilbert]

Gustaf Rydevik wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Reading the wikipedia page on R, I stumbled across the following:
> http://fluff.info/blog/arch/00000172.htm
> 
There are certainly situations where one would want to consider faster 
solutions than interpreted languages but, having been through these 
arguments a few times over the years, here are a few things you might 
consider:

1/ How much is your time worth, how much does the computer time cost, 
and how much does a faster computer cost when you start writing your code?

2/ How much is your time worth, how much does the computer time cost, 
and how much does a faster computer cost when you finish writing your code?

3/ If you tweak the code, or use someone else's private tweaks, how much 
do you trust the results relative to more widely used and tested versions?

4/ You should do speed comparisons with something resembling your real 
problem.

5/ If you want to make R look really bad use a loop that gobbles lots of 
memory, so your machine starts to swap. (This is my guess of part of the 
problem with the "script".)

6/ If you want your code to be really fast, don't do any error checking. 
(This also avoids the enormous amount of time you waste when you find 
errors.)

> It does seem interesting that the C execution is that much slower from
> R than from a native C program. Could any of the more technically
> knowledgeable people explain why this is so?
> 
> The author also have some thought-provoking opinions on R being
> no-good and that you should write everything in C 

People used to say assembler, that's progress.

Paul Gilbert

instead (mainly
> because R is slow and too good at graphics, encouraging data
> snooping). See  http://fluff.info/blog/arch/00000041.htm
>  While I don't agree (granted, I can't really write C), it was
> interesting to read something from a very different perspective than
> I'm used to.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Gustaf
> 
> _____
> Department of Epidemiology,
> Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control
> work email: gustaf.rydevik at smi dot ki dot se
> skype:gustaf_rydevik
> 
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