Performance of Dyalog APL - A Historical Perspective

Explore the evolution of Dyalog APL performance over nearly three decades in this insightful conference talk. Delve into Veli-Matti Jantunen's personal journey with Dyalog since 1995 and his keen interest in APL code performance. Learn about the limitations of standard performance comparisons and discover a customized testing package developed to address these shortcomings. Follow the process of comparing Dyalog versions from v8.1 to v18.2, understanding the challenges of maintaining backwards compatibility. Examine updated testing methodologies and output formats, culminating in a comprehensive analysis of performance trends across Dyalog versions, visually presented using RainPro.

Syllabus

Introduction, personal history, and reason for interest in performance
Standard Dyalog performance comparison presentation
Limitations of the standard presentation
Customised performance testing package
Process of comparing performance of Dyalog versions from v8.1 - v18.2
The challenges of accounting for backwards compatibility
Updated testing package and output format
Results – trends across Dyalog versions illustrated using RainPro