The relative performance of over 1,000 computers launched between 1953 and 1993 is compared.
Speaker
Derek M. Jones
Synopsis
The relative performance of over 1,000 computers launched between 1953 and 1993 is compared. Estimating the annual increase in performance is complicated by the use of different techniques used to measure performance and manufacturers offering both high performance systems and cheaper lower performance systems. Before benchmarks became widely used, performance estimation was based on a weighted mix of instruction timings. Benchmarks solve the problem of increasing variability of instruction timing, but suffer from variability in the quality of compiled code. Measurement data and analysis code is available for download.
About the speaker
Derek used to write compilers that translated what developers wrote, then moved into static analysis to try and work out what they intended to write, and now does evidence-based research in software engineering. His book Evidence-based Software Engineering discusses what is currently known about software engineering, based on an analysis of all the publicly available data pdf+code+all data freely available here.
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