Re: [igraph] Overhead of the R interface

[Tamas Nepusz]

Dear List,

Further to the email below, I implemented the same speed test in Python
and ran it on my machine (Intel Xeon X3360 Quad Core @ 2.83 GHz).
Obviously only on one of the cores. The results are as follows:

C version, 5x: 9.897s
Python version, 5x: 10.016s

Overhead: 10.016/9.897 = 1.012, so it's about 1%.
I think the difference between the overhead of the R and the Python
interfaces stem from the way igraph_t objects are passed back and forth
between the host language and the C core. The Graph objects in Python
hold only a pointer to an igraph_t object that's created and managed
within C, and only this pointer is passed back and forth. (This fits
Python's reference counting mechanisms and its pass-by-reference
philosophy better).

Best,
-- 
Tamas

speedtest.py
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