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From: obrien@aerospace.aero.org (Mike O'Brien)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
Subject: Re: performance question about ST80 v2.5 on MacII
Message-ID: <63519@aerospace.AERO.ORG>
Date: 14 Dec 89 20:39:32 GMT
References: <1989Dec12.202546.11965@sdsu.edu>
Sender: news@aerospace.aero.org
Reply-To: obrien@anpiel.UUCP (Mike O'Brien)
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA
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In article <1989Dec12.202546.11965@sdsu.edu> whitney@sdsu.sdsu.edu (Roger Whitney) writes:
>
>	I have been using Smalltalk-80 v2.3 from ParcPlace on a Macintosh II 
>computer with 5M of memory.  When I received my upgrade to v2.5 I noticed 
>a decrease in response of the windows. 
>1) Am I the only one that experiences this delay? Have I installed v2.5 
>incorrectly?
>
>	I assume that the delay is caused by compiling methods to native code 
>for the first time, after which it is stored in native-method zone. 
>
>2) Does this means a similar delay occurs on other platforms? Is in 
>particular does this occur on Mac IIcx or Suns?

It is definitely the case that the VM in 2.3 was written in assembler,
whereas the 2.5 VM is coded in C (for portability reasons).  My
understanding (i.e. this is rumor) is that the C compilers for the Mac
are not exactly up to snuff -- at least, the one ParcPlace used wasn't.

To find out if the n-method zone is causing your problems, just run
the benchmarks twice, and throw away the first reading.
--
Mike O'Brien
obrien@aerospace.aero.org