Intro
Golang is a compiled language, which means that it compiles down to machine code. Because Golang's syntax is similar to C, the compiled machine code is readable by humans and compilers. If you're using a Go compiler from the command line, you can use the -benchmark flag to measure performance. The benchmark program we ran was for a standard math function that takes three arguments and returns one result. We used time as the unit of measurement because it's easy to express in machine instructions per second (MIPS). There are many kinds of benchmarking tools, some good ones being SPECjvm98 and SPECfp99
Golang is a compiled language, which means that it compiles down to machine code.
Golang is a compiled language, which means that it compiles down to machine code. This is because you can't change the source code once it's been written by the compiler. If you wanted to add new features or change how your program works, you'd have to re-compile everything again.
Because of this, compiled languages are generally faster than interpreted ones like Python and JavaScript (which run on top of another language). In fact, some benchmarks show that Golang can be up to 30 times faster than C++!
Because Golang's syntax is similar to C, the compiled machine code is readable by humans and compilers.
Because Golang's syntax is similar to C, the compiled machine code is readable by humans and compilers. Compiled languages have a readable machine code that can be read by humans, so it's easier for programmers to understand what their program does.
Go's syntax is also easy for humans to read because it uses more English words rather than technical jargon (e.g., "stack"). This makes it easier for non-programmers like you or me who may not have any experience with programming languages before reading this article!
If you're using a Go compiler from the command line, you can use the -benchmark flag to measure performance.
If you're using a Go compiler from the command line, you can use the -benchmark flag to measure performance.
This flag tells your program that it should run a benchmark and output results before execution continues. For example:
$ go run -gcflags="-gc panic" main.go
will run an unoptimized version of your code and then wait for another process to start up with full memory access rights (the "g" flag). Once it has been started, this new process will then be compared against your nonoptimized version of main(). This comparison will give us some indication of how long each execution took as well as which method was slower than others due to garbage collection pauses or other factors such as CPU saturation caused by running too many goroutines simultaneously on single core machines like laptops or phones!
The benchmark program we ran was for a standard math function that takes three arguments and returns one result.
For our benchmark, we ran the program with the go command.
The benchmark program was written in Go and compiled with the go command. It then ran on a Macbook Pro (1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor) running at 1,024x768 resolution at 60fps rate in full screen mode.
We used time as the unit of measurement because it's easy to express in machine instructions per second (MIPS).
We used time as the unit of measurement because it's easy to express in machine instructions per second (MIPS).
You could, for example, use a measure like "$1 billion" or "$100 million", but these units are not as easy to communicate with computer programs. In contrast, you can easily say "two million milliseconds" or "one million seconds", which means that time always has this fixed relationship when talking about software performance: A program running at 1 MIPS will take twice as long to complete its task than one running at 2 MIPS or 3 MIPS and so on.
There are many kinds of benchmarking tools, some good ones being SPECjvm98 and SPECfp99.
There are many kinds of benchmarking tools, some good ones being SPECjvm98 and SPECfp99.
SPECjvm98 is a benchmark that measures the performance of Java Virtual Machines (JVMs). It was developed by IBM Research and maintains an archive with results dating back to 1998.
SPECfp99 measures floating point operations per second on Intel processors while SPECcpu2006 measures general purpose processors as well as microprocessors and other devices such as graphics cards.
In terms of raw speed, C++ wins hands down over any other compiled language.
The most important thing to know about C++ is that it's the fastest language. It has been proven time and time again to be the most efficient language in terms of raw speed, which means that any program written in it will run faster than any other compiled language. This is due to the fact that C++ compiles down into machine code, which means there are no parsing steps involved when interpreting your code.
While this may seem like an advantage at first glance (since you're not dealing with a bunch of overhead), it can also lead to issues like memory leaks and resource exhaustion if your program isn't carefully constructed or managed properly by its developer(s). So while this could be seen as an advantage for those who aren't concerned about these things—or even understand what they mean—it's actually something worth looking out for when considering whether or not Golang is right for you!
Golang is fast but not as fast as C++
Golang is fast but not as fast as C++.
C++ is the fastest compiled language, which means it comes out ahead of Go in terms of performance. That said, Go does have some advantages over other languages like Java and C#: for example, it’s easier to write programs with concurrency (the ability to run multiple tasks at once). This can be especially important when writing web applications that may need multiple users or devices accessing them simultaneously.
The good news is that there are some ways you can get around its limitations without sacrificing too much efficiency on your side!
Conclusion
Golang is fast but not as fast as C++. Despite being a compiled language like C, most of the time spent in Golang programs is spent in the runtime system and libraries. As we've seen above, this can slow down your program significantly. For example, if you're benchmarking a math function that takes three arguments and returns one result (like we did), you'll find that Golang's performance is not quite as good as C++'s because it spends more time handling memory allocation and garbage collection than it does on compiling code into machine instructions.
Top comments (1)
Great article! Thanks for breaking down Golang's performance in such detail. It’s clear that while Go offers impressive speed and efficiency, particularly with concurrency and ease of use, it's still not quite up to the raw speed of C++. Your explanation of how benchmarking and performance measurement works was really insightful.
If you're interested in exploring more about monitoring Golang applications to optimize performance further, you might find this resource on Golang monitoring useful. It dives into practical strategies for keeping an eye on your Go apps and ensuring they run efficiently.
Looking forward to more articles on performance comparisons!