# Re: How to speed up ruby and make it as fast as possible **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [July 14, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-how-to-speed-up-ruby-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible/98415 "2006-07-14T16:49:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ebca7d/32.png) [@jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jamal86)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-how-to-speed-up-ruby-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible/98415/1 "2006-07-14T16:49:45Z")
-----Original Message----- From: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid [[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)] On Behalf Of Reggie Mr Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 6:56 AM > Write it C. I find this answer to be unsatisfactory. I do not know C and neither do many others who like Ruby but want better performance. The knowledge and syntax demands of programming in Ruby and C are worlds apart. It is not much different than telling someone to go code in (modern) Assembler! I think the more that Rubyists acknowledge and try to directly solve the language’s performance hindrance rather than rationalizing it away, the better the prospects for the success of our beloved language. Of course, better algorithms can produce better performance, but that argument is also true for the languages with which Ruby compares unfavorably in performance. Please do not claim that Ruby’s adoption by others is irrelevant: a good idea is worth spreading, and the more users, the better library support and learning resources available to us all. Also, please do not tell me to rewrite Ruby, myself, if I care about performance. As stated, I do not know C or have the interest and time to devote to such an undertaking. I do promote Ruby to friends and colleagues in ways that I can. We should be able to have a legitimate desire for language improvements without being characterized as ignoramuses, nay-sayers or lazy spectators. Regards, Jamal ---
**Author:** ![jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ebca7d/32.png) [@jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jamal86)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-how-to-speed-up-ruby-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible/98415/2 "2006-07-14T17:13:58Z")
I find this attitude is quite amazing. We all know that Ruby is not a best language in terms of performance. Even if we had Ruby 2.0 (YARV) delivered to us, Ruby’s performance would still be a way behind those strong typed languges like ocaml or java. If you want to keep using Ruby, but sometimes you need a raw performance, you should learn C. It’s not that bad, you know. If you always need a raw performance, then probably you are not using right tool for the job. just my 2 cents. ---
**Author:** ![jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ebca7d/32.png) [@jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jamal86)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-how-to-speed-up-ruby-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible/98415/3 "2006-07-14T17:24:21Z")
We all want Ruby to be faster but if the speed at which your application runs at is your priority then I’m afraid that Ruby is not good enough. Neither is Python, Perl, Java or any other language. In extremis even C isn’t good enough and only assembler will do. Please do not sell Ruby as the Golden Hammer that can do anything better than any other language, it quite clearly cannot do that. You will do Ruby a disservice and people will question your ability to make a sound technical judgement. Of course there are many things that you can do to make a Ruby program faster, like writing better code 🙂 A programming language is simply a tool and not everything is a nail. ---
**Author:** ![jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ebca7d/32.png) [@jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jamal86)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-how-to-speed-up-ruby-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible/98415/4 "2006-07-14T17:46:39Z")
I prefer to use Ruby for _most_ of my programming work, but still couldn’t imagine using it for every single task. It’s just one tool of many. And the more of these tools you can pick up and use that much better of a craftsman you will be. That being said, I would strongly recommend you do learn C. The Ruby interpreter relies on it, Ruby has a very clean, logical interface with it, and learning it would allow you to tap into a whole other world of available libraries. Just review some of Pickaxe for basic details about how it can help make your life easier, not more complex. Plus, as others have mentioned, learning it would allow to use it for performance critical portions of your work. Bad analogy maybe, but being a programmer and not knowing any C is like a guitarist now knowing any Led Zeppelin 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ebca7d/32.png) [@jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jamal86)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-how-to-speed-up-ruby-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible/98415/5 "2006-07-14T17:32:54Z")
"I find this answer to be unsatisfactory. I do not know C and neither do many others who like Ruby but want better performance. The knowledge and syntax demands of programming in Ruby and C are worlds apart. It is not much different than telling someone to go code in (modern) Assembler! " Assembler is not that bad either, imho once you’ve learned how to program beyond just a specific language picking up another one is not that challenging. And i agree learn c it’s at the very least good for very speed important tasks, or interfacing directly with the os or writing ruby modules to do said interfacing. I mean try to beat this thing in speed _need an x86 compiler_ .model small .stack 100h .386 Bufsize= 800 bsize=800 .data ten DD 10 FACT DD Bufsize DUP(0) INDEX dd 0 MULTI DD 0 LEN DD 1 .code main proc far ``` mov ax,@data mov ds,ax mov ah,62h int 21h mov es,bx mov eax,0 mov ebx,081h movzx ecx,BYTE PTR es:[80h] ``` L4: mul ten ``` movzx edx,BYTE PTR es:[ebx] and edx,000000fh add eax,edx inc ebx loop L4 ``` ;put code here ``` MOV ESI,OFFSET FACT MOV [ESI],EAX DEC EAX MOV ECX,EAX CMP ECX,0 JE PEAX ``` Fac1: ``` MOV EBX,0 MOV ESI,OFFSET FACT MOV INDEX,0 ``` Fac2: ``` MOV EAX,[ESI] ;MOV FACT INTO EAX MUL ECX ;MUL BY COUNT ADD EAX,EBX ;ADD CONTENTS OF EBX TO ``` ECX ``` JNC Fac3 ;NO CARRY => JUMP L3 INC EDX ;OTHERWISE INC EDX ``` Fac3: ``` MOV EBX,EDX ;MOV CONTENT OF EDX TO EBX MOV [ESI],EAX ;STORE MUL RESULT IN CURRENT ESI ``` POS ``` INC INDEX MOV EAX,INDEX CMP LEN,EAX ;COMPARE LEN, INDEX JNE Fac5 ;NOT EQUAL => JUMP L2 CMP EBX,0 ;COMPARE FOR CARRY AFTER ADD ECX,EBX JZ Fac4 ;NO CARRY => JUMP L4 INC LEN ;INC LEN ADD ESI,4 MOV [ESI],EBX JMP Fac4 ``` Fac5: ``` ADD ESI,4 JMP Fac2 ``` Fac4: ``` LOOP Fac1 ``` mov INDEX,0 mov ESI,OFFSET FACT MK1: mov eax,[esi] push eax inc INDEX add esi,4 mov ecx,INDEX cmp ecx, LEN jnz MK1 ;end code PEAX: ``` pop eax mov ebx,eax mov ecx,8 cmp INDEX,0 jz I1 ``` L9: L3: ``` mov edx,0f0000000h and edx,ebx push ecx mov cl,28 shr edx,cl pop ecx mov ah,02h cmp dl,10 jb L1 add dl,37h jmp L2 ``` L1: or dl,30h L2: int 21h ``` shl ebx,1 shl ebx,1 shl ebx,1 shl ebx,1 loop L3 dec INDEX cmp INDEX,0 jnz PEAX mov ah,4ch int 21h ``` I1: ``` inc INDEX jmp L9 ``` main endp end main ---
**Author:** ![jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ebca7d/32.png) [@jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jamal86)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-how-to-speed-up-ruby-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible/98415/6 "2006-07-14T19:54:34Z")
Jamal M. wrote: > many others who like Ruby but want better performance. The knowledge > and syntax demands of programming in Ruby and C are worlds apart. It is > not much different than telling someone to go code in (modern) > Assembler! > > I think the more that Rubyists acknowledge and try to directly solve the > language’s performance hindrance rather than rationalizing it away, the > better the prospects for the success of our beloved language. [snip] I don’t think people are ignoring Ruby’s performance or rationalizing it away. That’s why all that work is going into YARV for Ruby2. That’s why there is ruby2c. There are people who are consciously working towards a better performing Ruby. As far as I understand it, there is plenty of room for Ruby to improve (performance has not been a top priority previously), so I have no doubt that we will see a faster Ruby in the future. However, if you want an immediate solution, then the solution is to use another language or link to another language from Ruby. The helpful people on this list are also very practical, so when someone says, “How do I make my Ruby program run faster?” instead of answering, “Sorry, you can’t” they give practical advice. Sorry to be blunt, but if you are not contributing to improving Ruby’s performance, then you (and I 🙂 will need to be patient and wait for the newer, faster, even more awesome versions of Ruby to come out. -Justin ---
**Author:** ![jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ebca7d/32.png) [@jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jamal86)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-how-to-speed-up-ruby-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible/98415/7 "2006-07-15T03:28:14Z")
Ouch. That hurt :-/ Maybe I should’ve said a programmer not knowing C would be like a southern U.S. redneck (of which I am one) not knowing the song “Freebird.” ---
**Author:** ![jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ebca7d/32.png) [@jamal86](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jamal86)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-how-to-speed-up-ruby-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible/98415/8 "2006-07-14T23:41:00Z")
On 2006-07-14, gregarican [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > … being a programmer and not knowing any C is like a guitarist now > knowing any Led Zeppelin 🙂 class LedZep \< Rock::Default ripoff(Blues) include Tolkein::References::Tedious acts\_as\_pretentious has(slavering\_adulation\_of(:ignorant)) end Flame::on! 🙂 Regards, Jeremy H.