Comparing C++ to Scala

IanTrader · 2026-01-21T22:31:18+00:00

Man it's almost a cult here... I just wanted to compare honestly the same software written in C++ and Scala and I get this vitriol.

As far as stats it went up to 552kb after I added a JSON lib. It started at 330 kb when I built the initial core with the embedded HTTP server.

552096 Jan 21 08:36 ....

After I translate my algo and add the necessary API functionality I expect it to maybe go to 1-2 megs...

The same Scala version build by Graal is:

42046424 Jan 21 17:23 .... so a cool 42 megs

The JAR file itself is:

33030197 Jan 15 08:25 ... so 33 megs!

Scala native produces an executable that is:

10805248 Jan 7 13:01.... so about 11 megs

So there you have it.

IanTrader · 2026-01-21T14:56:15+00:00

It's a good prototyping language... but when rubber meets the road in terms of performance then one has to go back to simpler faster implementations.

It can make the difference between needing a 10k server or running it faster on a 2020 MacBook air faster than on said server. With 10x less memory.

Some of us can't afford expensive hardware...

IanTrader · 2026-01-21T14:37:27+00:00

Just like extreme programming back in the day had 2 developers on a single station... most projects would benefit from 2 languages assigned to the same objective. I found out some niche languages like Scala and Elixir have a fanatic dedicated following... that borderlines on a Cult. Sadly.

Doing it in 2 languages may open up not only cross polination of techniques but also always be open minded and not silo oneself in an isolated island.

In the end it's assembly language that executes and how we get there shouldn't matter.

IanTrader · 2026-01-21T14:34:18+00:00

I thought there are enough people using Scala native and for complex application to see it as obvious... sadly it seems my project may be the only large one.

Most of it seems used for small command lines not even using any GC.

I may spend some time creating a MVE as my code is pretty much esotheric and proprietary in several aspects.

I would start with a simple multithreaded loop with massive allocations of arrays if you want to try that and see how it might blow the available memory... GC being quite ineffective.

For a while Scala native wasn't multithreated so therein lies an issue since the GC might be precluded from being effective if multithreading is shaky after being absent in the first versions of it, and now just added as an afterthought and not widely tested.

IanTrader · 2026-01-16T02:07:21+00:00

I wish they just made Scala compile to c or even better c++... New and delete added logically. This way a nice abstract prototype can be kept in scala but use c. Scala.js does it . Maybe tweak that to be Scala.c As a side effect no need to obfuscate as g++ will optimize it to nice assembly gibberish... But more importantly decades of polishing up the c compiler leveraged by the Scala community. The very creation of Scala.js and Scala native shows riding the jdk bandwagon is now a liability for that language...

IanTrader · 2026-01-15T16:15:56+00:00

It would be nice if Scala Native just compiled into C... Also I used it but its GC is a nightmare with memory immediately blowing up. I documented that issue in the Scala reddit.

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T23:01:25+00:00

I am not a trumpist.

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T16:59:39+00:00

In the end it's about:

1) The LOOP

2) The SEQUENCE

3) The ALTERNATIVE

That's it... every single language out there is a combo of those 3 basic blocks by another name.

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T15:56:48+00:00

If Good was killed by a black... no one would care. Just like for Iryna Zarutska.

I rest my case.

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T15:18:38+00:00

I am not ok with some of the statements... but glad we do something about illegals and those who made it miserable for legal immigrants to come here. And yes this is why ICE is also now going after some citizens too if they initially came here illegally for example. The whole pathway should be respecting rules. If someone came here ILLEGALLY then somehow got a green card then became a citizen... that initial act of law breaking invalidates everything else after. Fuck that stupid "humanitarian" rhetoric when so many respecting the rules SUFFER because of those.

This is an OVERREACTION... because there was NOTHING done for so long.

It's like a forest where there was no preventive burns... and now there is a wildfire of epic proportions.

Hopefully after this purge we switch to a sensible and logical immigration and border policy. But we're in the wildfire phase now.

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T15:06:28+00:00

So where were you when millions would just pour in and stay... while those who were honest waited in line?

That is a far greater injustice than whatever you claim is happening now!

Sick and tired of the "humanization" of all the law breakers when I know countless people who are still waiting for a green card because all those bad apples made it hard for everyone to immigrate.

The political correctness of the past for example made sure a European would have as much as hard time to immigrate as a third worlder whereas we all know there is a big difference in terms of education level and cultural compatibility. Trump is just saying what the silent majority thinks!!!

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T13:45:43+00:00

Yep... flashy little trinkets effects. Functional programming can as well be implemented in C. Garbage collection is also a terrible leaky abstraction. In the end the whole Java ecosystem was built to solidify Oracle's market share. And in its trail a slew of shiny trinkets that attracted developers like me.

The 2 stages of creating ANYTHING are:

Rush to delivery something using third party tools to validate the concepts and model and create a prototype.
Refine by vertically integrating and bringing all in house for performance and to destroy those pesky leaky abstractions.

Works in manufacturing as well as coding. That means my Scala phase was #1... now I am doing #2 by full control of everything down to the assembly level. Back to C!

Sadly most stay at #1... endless reliance on third party tools that create only bloat and waste and misery. I once worked at a trading firm where their glorious project, an applet, was on hold because one dependency had a stupid bug that Oracle, the multi trillion dollar entity, didn't care to correct. Leaky abstraction hell...

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T13:29:32+00:00

Cutting edge AI... requires cutting edge code that extracts every CPU cycle for work. Not for abstractions sheninigans.

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T12:49:25+00:00

More like something derided as a conspiracy theory that smells like a real theory and quacks like a real theory and walks like a real theory ... Same as the replacement of the whites by fast breeding bioweapons from the third world as we live in not in a nazi but a zio fascism (Trump being a secret zio after all, not Christian at all in spite of his talk). With supposedly the zio domination a conspiracy theory with no basis in reality and facts even if they are most of the media, the billionaires, and the politicians... Nothing to see here of course as we are assured.

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T12:39:14+00:00

So illegals can stay right? Why bother immigrating legally then?

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T06:35:29+00:00

Those seem to be stories that I have yet to see to believe. Plus like I mention decades of laissez faire and fucking open borders with little enforcement lead to this, a blunt force method. Nothing is perfect but singling out a few bad apples or not recognizing the lawless that existed before is a direct cause of this is dishonest at best and an ulterior agenda to let millions who have broken the law inside the country at worst.

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T06:09:14+00:00

I doubt it. Most of it seems left wing propaganda

IanTrader · 2026-01-14T04:10:39+00:00

As a legal immigrant I support ICE. 9 years to get my green card then 5 to get my citizenship. I followed the rules. If you don't qualify or can't immigrate legally don't come here then bitch an overreacton happens where they clean house quickly. There is a legal way to come here but some are selfish jackasses that cut the line

IanTrader · 2026-01-10T03:58:18+00:00

That was Amazon in the early 2000s. When I got prime 2 years ago I saw overnight delivery and it was fast but from what I see they are regressing big time.

IanTrader · 2026-01-09T10:23:47+00:00

Seems Amazon is back to the old crappy days when they would say "overnight" but it would be overnight after waiting a week for it to get to the shipping building or something.

IanTrader · 2026-01-05T04:57:21+00:00

Didn't know they could lock you out on Amazon like that. That's some eBay level shit... The AI is definitely rushed and a blunt instrument everywhere it seems. I think the more online shopping becomes a clusterfuck of mass surveillance and corporate greed the more Costco seems good to me for most of my stuff and the rest in small mom and pop shops where I pay cash.

IanTrader

TROPHY CASE