GC is only part of the equation. I have always found this article informative: https://marc.info/?l=git&m=124111702609723&w=2 https://marc.info/?l=git&m=1241117

GC is only part of the equation. I have always found this article informative: https://marc.info/?l=git&m=124111702609723&w=2 https://marc.info/?l=git&m=124111702609723&w=2 Performance for higher-level languages is usually great in-so-far as you're able to essentially write C code in that higher level language. When the language's limitations inhibit you from writing the C code you want to write, performance usually suffers. In java's case, lack of value types and stack allocation can be a major performance hindrance. Boxing is also a problem, although, as the mailing list post notes, this is easily overcome-able via manual specialization.