Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!jarthur!nntp-server.caltech.edu!pooh!madler From: madler@pooh.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: Mathematica Benchmarks (NeXT vs. DEC and Mac) Message-ID: <1991Jan8.015250.20628@nntp-server.caltech.edu> Date: 8 Jan 91 01:52:50 GMT References: <1991Jan3.214940.1@linus.claremont.edu> Sender: news@nntp-server.caltech.edu Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Lines: 20 Nntp-Posting-Host: pooh.caltech.edu Lee Story (lee@wang.com) notes that: >> As a benchmark, Mathematica is wholly bogus. after pointing out how it is crippled on the Mac. The purpose of benchmarks is to help someone make an educated guess about how their more commonly used applications will perform on various machines. Of course, none of the "general purpose" benchmarks will tell you how your application will run precisely--a guess is as good as it gets. The best benchmark, by far, is to test your applications on the machines you might be using, renting, or buying. Therefore, if you use Mathematica most of the time, then Mathematica is the perfect benchmark program. Bar none. In fact, the very problems Lee uses to argue that Mathematica is no good as a general purpose benchmark, illustrate how useless the general purpose benchmarks are at telling you how your program will run (if your program is Mathematica, in this case). Mark Adler madler@pooh.caltech.edu