Re: CGI, semicolons, and so on...
Fisher Mark (FisherM@is3.indy.tce.com)
Thu, 30 Dec 93 08:20:00 PST
As far as the overhead for a single stat() call, I think that it is pretty
small in the scheme of things. Why even try writing a server in Perl, an
interpreted language (which I love), if you need to worry about the overhead
of a single stat() call? Why even write one in C or C++ rather than
assembler if a single stat call() can make the difference between a server
with good response time vs. a server with poor response time? The reason
that programming languages have been getting higher and higher level as time
passes is that human time (designing, writing, debugging, enhancing) gets
more and more expensive relative to computer time. If a script is going to
be served often enough that one stat() call is significant, it should
probably become its own service (like finger or ftp), with a direct,
hardwired WWW gateway.
======================================================================
Mark Fisher Thomson Consumer Electronics
fisherm@tcemail.indy.tce.com Indianapolis, IN
"Just as you should not underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon
traveling 65 mph filled with 8mm tapes, you should not overestimate
the bandwidth of FTP by mail."