Certainly, Ruby performance is not always a problem. It may not even be
a problem in most situations. The issue arises enough on the list,
however, that, combined with personal experience, I am convinced it is a
significant problem. I think Ruby has few problems compared to other
languages, but this is probably its biggest one. Quantifying it more
than that is difficult, and should not be necessary for it to be
acknowledged as a valid concern.
Since the message that began this thread asked how to speed up Ruby
programs, it was obviously a problem for that author. Also, if it was
not a problem, why would speed improvement be a major goal of YARV/Ruby
2?
Not everyone is in a position to contribute directly to the improvement
of the Ruby language/VM. They still have a stake in the community,
however, and contribute in other ways. Those who are in a position to
improve the language will probably produce more valued results if
informed about our needs as developers. Evidently, increased speed is
not important to everyone, but expressing an interest in it should be
o.k., too.
Regards,
Jamal