Although Java technology opens a wealth of opportunities for
distributed scientific computing, the performance of Java
needs to be evaluated to determine its suitability for numerical
applications.
A Java version of the Linpack Benchmark
is available from Netlib
The Linpack Benchmark is a numerically intensive
test that has been used for years to measure the floating point
performance of computers.
The Java applet allows users to submit results for Java
Linpack by filling in a form with information about the operating
system and CPU of his local machine, as well as more detailed information about
memory and processor speed, and whether or not the user's browser
uses just-in-time (JIT) Java compilation.
The user then presses a button of run the benchmark on his
machine.
The user's timings are then to the Java Linpack developers
by email, who then update the timings and the graphical display
that appear on the Java Linpack home page.
The test results are more a reflection of the state of Java systems than of the floating point performance of the underlying processors. Some Java systems do line by line interpretation and others perform ``just in time'' (JIT) compilation. As can be seen from the results, the JIT systems perform better, perhaps by an order of magnitude. The Linpack Java Benchmark allows the scientific user community to track the numerical performance of Java implementations over time over a range of architectures.