5 ms·

some are hopeful it will provide a faster debug compile option, and/or just a non llvm dependent option

ComputerGuru 6y ago
Indeed - it was just recommended to me over on Reddit to try it out as the backend for my “rust as a scripting language” shebang header for faster first-time compiles. https://neosmart.net/blog/2020/self-compiling-rust-code/ https://neosmart.net/blog/2020/self-compiling-rust-code/
eikenberry 6y ago
Last I checked it was only 30% faster than the normal Rust compiler. So unless that's improved significantly, it isn't much help as of yet.
- guipsp 6y ago
  30% faster is significantly faster
  - eikenberry 6y ago
    It is significantly faster, just not enough to make a difference when the baseline is so slow.
  - mhh__ 6y ago
    Depends, 30% faster codegen is a good thing to build from but codegen is only a fraction of the actual compilation process.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    You can be 1% faster and be 'significantly' faster. 'Significantly' just tells you about variance of your samples. What matters is if it's usefully faster.
    - creata 6y ago
      I think they meant "significant" as in "of importance", not "statistically significant".
    - jez 6y ago
      I've been trying to catch myself claiming something is "significantly faster" and instead say it's "substantially faster" for this reason. As far as I know, "substantial" doesn't have the same kind of formal definition, and still captures the informal point I was trying to make. I wish that we (collectively) did a better job of reporting statistically significant performance comparisons, and in that light using "substantially" is a reminder to myself to think about whether it would be hard to go the extra mile and collect the data to actually report significance properly.
- The_rationalist 6y ago
  The 30% faster was before support for split dwarf was enabled for llvm, I now expect to be faster or as fast as cranelift for debug.
- pizza234 6y ago
  I've checked a couple of months ago, but only on one relatively small project (~6k lines); the compilation time was reduced by 50%.

Indeed - it was just recommended to me over on Reddit to try it out as the backend for my “rust as a scripting language” shebang header for faster first-time compiles. https://neosmart.net/blog/2020/self-compiling-rust-code/ https://neosmart.net/blog/2020/self-compiling-rust-code/

eikenberry 6y ago

Last I checked it was only 30% faster than the normal Rust compiler. So unless that's improved significantly, it isn't much help as of yet.

guipsp 6y ago
30% faster is significantly faster
- eikenberry 6y ago
  It is significantly faster, just not enough to make a difference when the baseline is so slow.
- mhh__ 6y ago
  Depends, 30% faster codegen is a good thing to build from but codegen is only a fraction of the actual compilation process.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  You can be 1% faster and be 'significantly' faster. 'Significantly' just tells you about variance of your samples. What matters is if it's usefully faster.
  - creata 6y ago
    I think they meant "significant" as in "of importance", not "statistically significant".
  - jez 6y ago
    I've been trying to catch myself claiming something is "significantly faster" and instead say it's "substantially faster" for this reason. As far as I know, "substantial" doesn't have the same kind of formal definition, and still captures the informal point I was trying to make. I wish that we (collectively) did a better job of reporting statistically significant performance comparisons, and in that light using "substantially" is a reminder to myself to think about whether it would be hard to go the extra mile and collect the data to actually report significance properly.
The_rationalist 6y ago
The 30% faster was before support for split dwarf was enabled for llvm, I now expect to be faster or as fast as cranelift for debug.
pizza234 6y ago
I've checked a couple of months ago, but only on one relatively small project (~6k lines); the compilation time was reduced by 50%.