Why is Go Slower Than Java Despite Producing Native Code?

Go Performance vs. Java: Exploring the Discrepancy

The Computer Language Benchmarks Game in 2010 revealed that Go is significantly slower than both C and Java. How is this possible given that Go produces native code?

Some have dismissed the intrinsic slowness of the Go language, attributing the performance issue to immature compilers. However, deeper investigation reveals that the compilers themselves cannot fully account for the performance gap.

The 6g and 8g compilers used in the benchmark are not particularly optimizing, leading to code that lacks speed. In contrast, gccgo leverages GCC's advanced optimization passes, potentially offering a fairer comparison with C. However, it remains incomplete in terms of features.

Ultimately, benchmark figures heavily depend on implementation quality. While they do not directly reflect the language itself, they indicate that the Go implementation may be allocating runtime resources to support features that are not essential for benchmarks. Optimizing compilers can theoretically remove such unnecessary overhead, but this approach can become impractical in real-world scenarios.

For example, in the case of Java, JIT-compiled code can effectively eliminate unnecessary code paths. However, this feat is not without its challenges, as maintaining these optimized pathways can be complex.

Empirical tests have shown that gccgo produces code comparable to C optimized with -O2. This suggests that Go is not inherently slow, but rather that the current compilers are unable to fully optimize its code. As the Go ecosystem matures and compilers evolve, it is expected that the performance gap will narrow, making Go a more compelling choice for applications that demand speed and efficiency.

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