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Alternative to Timing[10000!] benchmark

• To: mathgroup at yoda.physics.unc.edu
• Subject: Alternative to Timing[10000!] benchmark
• From: Paul E Howland <PEHOWLAND%CCF.dnet at hermes.dra.hmg.gb>
• Date: Fri, 01 Jul 1994 16:14:44 GMT

Instead of the rather dodgy "Timing[10000!]" benchmark for performance,
the following seems a better way of measuring the elapsed time taken to do a
calculation (as Timing[] supposedly measures CPU time):
 In[1]:= start=AbsoluteTime[]; Print[Short[10000!]]; AbsoluteTime[]-start

For the Windows 387 Version 2.2 running on a Compaq Despro 433i PC, I get the
result
 Out[1]= 137

And on the DEC Alpha OSF/1 Version 2.2 version, running on a DEC 3000 Model
400, I get
 Out[1]= 13.59984

The "Short[10000!]" means that the timing isn't affected by the time taken
to print 36000 digits to your VDU.

What results to Mathgroupers get with this on their machines?

Paul E Howland                         

Long Range Radar Sensors Section                         tel. + 44 684 895767
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