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[Caml-list] Executable size?
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Date: | 2003-11-12 (18:07) |
From: | Brian Hurt <bhurt@s...> |
Subject: | Re: [Caml-list] Executable size? |
On Wed, 12 Nov 2003, Richard Jones wrote: > On Wed, Nov 12, 2003 at 04:14:54PM +0000, John J Lee wrote: > > How does O'Caml compare with languages like Haskell (ghc), C and C++ for > > executable size? Does compiled code depend on a runtime library (and how > > big is that, if so)? > > This is not a criticism of OCaml, but the executables do tend to be > quite large. This seems mainly down to the fact that OCaml links the > runtime library in statically. There was previous discussion on this > list about the merits and problems with linking the runtime > dynamically. This isn't as bad as it sounds. A simplistic "hello world!" application in Ocaml weighs in at 112K, versus 11K for the equivelent (dynamically linked) C program- almost entirely either statically linked standard libraries and infrastructure (garbage collections, etc.)- stuff that doesn't expand with larger programs. A naive assumption would be that an Ocaml program is about 100K or so larger than the equivelent C program. Not much, considering how easy it is to get executables multiple megabytes in size. But in my experience (depending upon the program), Ocaml gets a lot more code reuse, and thus can actually lead to smaller executables. Unless you have special constraints, the difference between C program sizes and Ocaml program sizes are not enough to be worth worrying about. -- "Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." - Gene Spafford Brian ------------------- To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs FAQ: http://caml.inria.fr/FAQ/ Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners