Will Java go native?

[deadalnix]

On Thursday, 19 September 2013 at 08:26:03 UTC, Russel Winder 
wrote:
> And Windows native code applications don't ship with a version 
> of all
> the Windows DLLs for every application?
>
> Java is no longer under-performant compared to C, C++, Fortran, 
> D, Go,
> Rust. Check the benchmarks.
>

Benchmarks in Java are often misleading. The language promote a 
style with a lot of indirections, in the code and in datas. Once 
your application reach a certain size, cache effect makes it 
slowdown dramatically. But most benchmark applications aren't big 
enough to exhibit that behavior.

That being said, if you code in D like in java, you'll have the 
same trouble (in fact, it is likely to be worse in D). Compile 
time polymorphism and value types are here a major benefit of 
C/C++/C#/D (pick whatever you like).

Obviously, you'll find some pathologic cases where java is faster 
(usually mono-threaded memory allocation intensive benchmark 
exhibit that, as the JVM is able to add concurrency to the 
equation via the GC). But that doesn't represent the typical way 
most a program works (and when they do, you want to fix that as 
this is a performance killer, in every language, even if java 
suffers less from it).

The main problem of java isn't the VM, it is its addiction to 
indirections.

>> *Java's sluggish performance was what made me look for 
>> alternatives in the first place, and I found D.
>
> I accept this as true as it is a statement by you about your 
> decision
> making, but Java 8 is not Java 1. Early desktop Java was pure
> interpretation, and hence slow. Modern Java, via the JIT, 
> generally
> executes native code. With Java 7 and method handles and 
> invokedynamic,
> the world changed even more and now computationally intensive 
> codes can
> run basically as fast using Java as using C, C++, Fortran, D, 
> Rust, Go.
> (After initial "warm up" of the JIT.)
>

Yes, the warm up is usually a severe drawback for user 
applications. Server app do not suffer from it that much. I guess 
that is why java is so much used server side, but not that much 
to create GUI apps.