[Shootout-list] Ray tracer

[Greg Buchholz]

--- Brent Fulgham <bfulg@pacbell.net> wrote:
> 
> > I have found that the optimisations are very
> > language-dependent. For example, making the scene 
> > tree implicit (computing it on-the-fly) made the 
> > OCaml much faster and the MLton much slower. So I 
> > think the diverse results will be of 
> > greater interest than a set of equivalently-naively
> > written implementations.
> 
> I agree that the results would be interesting, but
> won't it be difficult to know what we are really
> measuring?  If two different algorithms (and two
> different data structures, etc.) are compared, how
> can we determine what amount of the delta in
> performance is due to algorithms versus the compiler
> implementation?
> 
    I'll chime in here, and state that I think some of the confusion
about the purpose of the Shootout comes from its misleading name. _The
Computer *LANGUAGE* Shootout_ implies that we're trying to compare
languages.  From a language perspective (and since all the languages
we're exaimining are turing complete), the specifics worthy of
measurement are things like expressiveness, conciseness, and which type
of solutions each language's grammar and syntax encourage.  But what the
Shootout is mainly geared toward (as hinted at in the FAQ) is a
*compiler* comparison.  We're looking for which compiler can produce the
fastest executable using a given algorithm.  Usually, these types of
contests are held between compilers of a single language (e.g. gcc vs.
icc), but the Shootout has progressed beyond that stage, and allows
entries whose syntax aren't exactly the same.
    Maybe what we need to do is setup up a couple of different websites,
each catering to a different way of looking at how to solve problems on
computers.  I can think of a couple additional "shootouts" that could be
interesting...

   * The Compiler Shootout (like we have now)
   * The Langauge Shootout (present the most clear/idiomatic solution)
   * The Community Shootout (what libraries are avilable)
   * The Algorithm Shootout (showcase of different ways to accomplish the
same job)

Or maybe there's a way to make it like a wiki, where anyone could submit
their favorite solution, and a few judges decide whether or not a
particular solution meets the criteria for the front page.  But
regardless, every program would still be on the site somewhere for people
to look at, and categorize, and massage to their heart's content.

Greg Buchholz



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