Re: Guile 2.2 speed improvements

[David Kastrup]

Paul Morris <address@hidden> writes:

> David Kastrup wrote
>> GUILE2.2 from master takes eternities to compile, like more than half an
>> hour or so.  LilyPond does a lot of on-the-fly evaluation, and Guile2.0
>> is already a big step backwards in that department compared to Guile
>> 1.8.
>> 
>> If they don't get compilation and partly interpreter speed under control
>> again (and it does not look like a priority to them since they are more
>> interested in competing on the basis of compiled code speed), the main
>> usability focus will be _not_ as an extension language but rather as a
>> main programming language.
>> 
>> That makes it cheaper swapping out some of our C++ parts for GUILE.  But
>> where performance is paramount, we are not likely going to do this
>> anyway.
>> 
>> So we'll have to see whether we are getting any tangible benefits here.
>
> Huh, interesting...  thanks for the additional insights.  That's too bad it
> may turn out to be a mixed bag for LilyPond.

Well, they are working hard on the "serious standalone programming
language" aspect rather than "extension language".  But then "serious
standalone programming language" is actually rather competitively
covered by systems like Chicken.  So it's a bit of my impression that
they are painting themselves into a local optimum that does not make for
a really convincing sell.

-- 
David Kastrup