I don't think you can say that microbenchmarks are anywhere realistic. First because the machine workload is different while you run them. Second because the co

I don't think you can say that microbenchmarks are anywhere realistic. First because the machine workload is different while you run them. Second because the compiling or VM state is also quite different. A value of microbenchmarks is to establish a stable environment when a baseline can be set, where predictions can be tested. It's a development tool, not a qualification tool. You will have anyway to measure the real performance impact in the complete environment.