F# performance in scientific computing

Question

I am curious as to how F# performance compares to C++ performance? I asked a similar question with regards to Java, and the impression I got was that Java is not suitable f

Answer 1

As with all language/performance comparisons, your mileage depends greatly on how well you can code.

F# is a derivative of OCaml. I was surprised to find out that OCaml is used a lot in the financial world, where number crunching performance is very important. I was further surprised to find out that OCaml is one of the faster languages, with performance on par with the fastest C and C++ compilers.

F# is built on the CLR. In the CLR, code is expressed in a form of bytecode called the Common Intermediate Language. As such, it benefits from the optimizing capabilities of the JIT, and has performance comparable to C# (but not necessarily C++), if the code is written well.

CIL code can be compiled to native code in a separate step prior to runtime by using the Native Image Generator (NGEN). This speeds up all later runs of the software as the CIL-to-native compilation is no longer necessary.

One thing to consider is that functional languages like F# benefit from a more declarative style of programming. In a sense, you are over-specifying the solution in imperative languages such as C++, and this limits the compiler's ability to optimize. A more declarative programming style can theoretically give the compiler additional opportunities for algorithmic optimization.