The compiler gives enormous optimizations for certain (admittedly extremely specialized) numerically intensive programs / calculations. Of course, if the compiler was developed further (it might be, actually), you'd probably see optimizations for larger sets of programs.
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I wonder what the performance benefit of adding optional type hints to ruby or python would be.
Read the Starkiller dissertaion (for Python): http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.90....
The compiler gives enormous optimizations for certain (admittedly extremely specialized) numerically intensive programs / calculations. Of course, if the compiler was developed further (it might be, actually), you'd probably see optimizations for larger sets of programs.