It is - in theory - possible to make a JIT compiler that runs code faster than native C++. (eg. it can optimize for the characteristics of the current CPU) We are not quiet there yet, but I think we are going that direction. Right now C++ is typically faster than eg. Java or C#. I managed to get 10x speed improvements using C++ over C# in some cases. But these were in special cases, where SIMD optimizations could be used. In typical web applications there won't be too much of a difference. Also, garbage collection can be done very efficiently - capable of competing with smart pointers and typical memory handlers in C++.
So, I think little would be gained by such a C++ framework, considering the current trends.
March 7, 2009, 11:47 p.m. - Kornel Lehocz
It is - in theory - possible to make a JIT compiler that runs code faster than native C++. (eg. it can optimize for the characteristics of the current CPU) We are not quiet there yet, but I think we are going that direction. Right now C++ is typically faster than eg. Java or C#. I managed to get 10x speed improvements using C++ over C# in some cases. But these were in special cases, where SIMD optimizations could be used. In typical web applications there won't be too much of a difference. Also, garbage collection can be done very efficiently - capable of competing with smart pointers and typical memory handlers in C++. So, I think little would be gained by such a C++ framework, considering the current trends.