Compiling functions, and timing

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Programming in Mathematica

Compiling functions, and timing

If a function is intended to give a numerical value rather than a symbolic value, it can be compiled to take advantage of a computer's arithmetic hardware, and will often return numerical values must more quickly than its uncompiled counterpart. Here we use Timing to compare the speed of compiled and uncompiled versions of a simple function:

Remove[f,cf];
 f = Function[{x,y}, Sin[x]/(Abs[y]+1.7)];
cf =  Compile[{x,y}, Sin[x]/(Abs[y]+1.7)];

{f[3,7],  cf[3,7]}

	{0.114943 Sin[3], 0.0162207}

Time how long it takes (approx) to do 1000 calculations with each version:


Timing[ Do[ f[3,7], {1000}];"-- uncompiled" ]
Timing[ Do[cf[3,7], {1000}];"-- compiled" ]

	{0.416667 Second, -- uncompiled}
	{0.0666667 Second, -- compiled}