DailyTech - Android 2.2 JavaScript Performance Roasts iOS4

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Gadgets Android 2.2 JavaScript Performance Roasts iOS4
Mark Kurlyandchik - July 7, 2010 9:28 AM

30 comment(s) - last by omnicronx.. on Jul 7 at 3:21 PM

(Source: Android Release)

(Source: arstechnica.com)

Makes delicious Apple pie

Ars Technica recently pitted Android 2.2 (Froyo) against Apple's iOS4 in JavaScript benchmark tests. The findings show a Froyo-equipped Nexus One "demolishing" Apple's mobile Safari browser on the iPhone 4.

Froyo received some "significant performance improvements" over previous Android builds, thanks to the addition of a high-performance Just In Time (JIT) compiler for the Dalvik Virtual Machine. For a better understanding of what a JIT does, there is no one better to explain than the tech leader for the Dalvik team, Dan Bornstein.

"The JIT is a software component which takes application code, analyzes it, and actively translates it into a form that runs faster, doing so while the application continues to run,"Bornstein blogs.

Ars Technica ran two JavaScript benchmark tests: SunSpider, which tests the core JavaScript language, helpful when comparing different browsers to each other; and the V8 Benchmark Suite, which tests OS kernel, encryption and decryption, raytracing, and more.

"The results show that the Android device delivers significantly faster JavaScript execution than the iPhone, scoring over three times better on V8 and almost twice as fast on SunSpider," Ars Technica writes.

This means that not only is Google outpacing Safari in terms of desktop browsers, but its mobile browsers deliver better performance as well. Now we can only hope that Froyo rolls out to other Android devices sooner rather than later.

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Brandy of OS'

By Anoxanmore on 7/7/2010 9:35:55 AM , Rating: 5

iOS: You are wonderful with browsers
Android: Thank you; I've worked hard to become so.
iOS: I admit it, you are better than I am.
Android: Then why are you smiling?
iOS: Because I know something you don't know.
Android: And what is that?
iOS: I... am not the newest update.
[Releases iOS4, installs..]
Android: You are amazing.
iOS: I ought to be, after 6 years.
Android: Oh, there's something I ought to tell you.
iOS: Tell me.
Android: I'm not the newest update either.
[Releases Android 2.2, installs, wins/profits]

=^-^=

RE: Brandy of OS'

By Treknologist on 7/7/2010 9:49:43 AM , Rating: 2

LOL, gotta love it!

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By Anoxanmore on 7/7/2010 9:51:50 AM , Rating: 5

Android: My name is Android Froyo, you tried to dominate the smart phone market, prepare to die!

=^-^=

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By axeman1957 on 7/7/2010 10:47:54 AM , Rating: 2

Do you by any chance run flash?
Do you start all your conversations this way?

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By GuinnessKMF on 7/7/2010 12:00:56 PM , Rating: 5

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By Anoxanmore on 7/7/2010 1:45:07 PM , Rating: 3

Board of Directors: You are sure nobody's follow' us?

Steve Jobs: As I told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable. No one at Palm knows what we've done, and no one in Microsoft could have gotten here so fast. - Out of curiosity, why do you ask?

Board of directors: No reason. It's only... I just happened to look behind us and something is there.

Steve Jobs: What? Probably some smaller company... out on a pleasure cruise, at night... in... my profit's waters...

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By quiksilvr on 7/7/2010 1:48:24 PM , Rating: 2

Stop saying that!

(Anyone who gets that reference gets a cookie)

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By jimbojimbo on 7/7/2010 2:35:05 PM , Rating: 2

Nobody can guess it, it's inconceivable!

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By Smartless on 7/7/2010 2:43:12 PM , Rating: 2

Offer me money...

Yes...

Offer me power..

Yes. Anything you want...

I want my HTC Back...

(I have enough cookies, I'm using IE. lol)

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By Aikouka on 7/7/2010 9:53:29 AM , Rating: 2

You forgot the part about delays for a majority of phones for manufacturers to add their own flavor such as HTC adding HTC Sense ;).

That's the interesting part about the Anandtech review of the iPhone 4. They showed the Froyo-equipped phone ( Nexus One ) performing very well against the iPhone 4, but the other Android phones were usually about equal or worse, simply because they were still running Android 2.1. The lack of uniformity in updating is the biggest detractor for me when it comes to Android phones.

Although, it looks like Android 3.0 will probably fix that according to that DailyTech article from about a week ago.

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By Anoxanmore on 7/7/2010 9:59:38 AM , Rating: 2

Oh I could make a princess bride quote's to fit this article all day long. :)

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By seraphim1982 on 7/7/2010 10:07:10 AM , Rating: 2

I think they are taking out UI like Sense and others... not sure if its with Froyo or the next update.

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By themaster08 on 7/7/10, Rating: 0

RE: Brandy of OS'

By danrien on 7/7/2010 10:10:41 AM , Rating: 3

Umm... so get a droid that isn't fragmented off (EVO, Incredible, etc.). My DROID droid is going to get the Froyo update relatively soon ... it runs a stock interface and all that so all they have to do is compile it for the Droid. It's mostly just HTC and Motorola phones (not all though) that have custom UI's.

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By omnicronx on 7/7/2010 1:24:26 PM , Rating: 1

I seriously doubt that. If it took this long to get things up and running for their own phone (2.2 was suppose to be out earlier), than I really doubt its as easy as merely 'compiling it for droid' as there will be a bunch of kinks to work out. Its also carrier dependent, i.e in the case of the Droid, the timetable for its release is all up to Verizon.

Thats the one downfall of Android as it currently stands, every update most likely requires help from the manufacturer of the device, and then also the carrier for the device.

Don't get me wrong, its been said that it will be the next device to receive 2.2, but please do remember that it took 3+ months after the release of 2.1 for Verizon to get it on their phones. All that has been said so far is that it will be released in the "in the near future", so I really doubt that a true timetable a has even been set.

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By Helbore on 7/7/2010 12:44:56 PM , Rating: 2

He also forgot this part;

IOS (running on a iPhone 3G): I'm not the lastest update.
Android: Go for it then.
IOS (running on iPhone 3G) updates to IOS 4
...
...
...
Android: You still there?
...
...
IOS (running on iPhone 3G): Give me a minute.
...
...
...
IOS (running on iPhone 3G): Ok, I concede, you're even faster than me now.

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By inperfectdarkness on 7/7/2010 10:50:49 AM , Rating: 3

hello. my name is android os. you killed my porno apps. prepare to die.

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RE: Brandy of OS'

By dragonbif on 7/7/2010 12:08:07 PM , Rating: 3

Give this video a try - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg&feature...

It will make you smile ;)

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it's all relative

By alu on 7/7/2010 9:51:39 AM , Rating: 2

Java != JavaScript

RE: it's all relative

By LongTimePCUser on 7/7/2010 11:03:25 AM , Rating: 2

Right on!
The JIT compiler is for Java. It speeds up apps not Javascript in the browser.

On the other hand, it is great that the Android 2.2 browser also speeds up Javascript.

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RE: it's all relative

By omnicronx on 7/7/2010 12:55:31 PM , Rating: 2

I think the point it the content of this article is just plain badly researched =P.

Its an article about JavaScript performance that goes off an a tangent that has little to do with JavaScript performance.

I read the original Ars 2.2 review, it never makes any claim that the JIT compiler was the reason for the increase in JS speed. Now of course their follow up article specifically on JS improvements mentions the JIT compiler, but it was just reiterating the two major speed improvements, it was not trying to tie them together..

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RE: it's all relative

By Stoanhart on 7/7/2010 3:04:02 PM , Rating: 2

But the JIT could speed up the browser's JavaScript engine, thus speeding up the JavaScript too.

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RE: it's all relative

By omnicronx on 7/7/2010 3:21:35 PM , Rating: 2

From Google site:

" V8 is written in C++ and is used in Google Chrome, the open source browser from Google.

V8 can run standalone, or can be embedded into any C++ application. "

*note the bolded text ;)*

It and the core browser itself is written in native code. So the JIT compiler should have absolutely nothing to do with the speed increase. Furthermore the V8 engine achieves its performance increase by doing pretty much what the JIT compiler would be doing anyways even if it was java based. (the reason its faster is it compiles the JS to nativecode before execution).

Someone please feel free to correct me if I am wrong..

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Princess Bride continued

By RedemptionAD on 7/7/2010 11:52:21 AM , Rating: 5

i0S4: My device is magical.
Android: You keep saying that. I don't think that means what you think it does.

over 4 times better

By fic2 on 7/7/2010 12:57:02 PM , Rating: 3

quote:
scoring over three times better on V8

Actually over four times better (287/67=4.28). Although saying over three times better is technically correct...

Question

By KeithP on 7/7/10, Rating: 0

ars who?

By samiup on 7/7/10, Rating: -1

RE: ars who?

By omnicronx on 7/7/2010 12:58:32 PM , Rating: 2

I read Ars all the time.. Many Apple articles yes, banning users for declaring their like for android? I don't think so..

You will get banned from the forum for being a jerk and saying things you should not regardless of what platform you like better..

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RE: ars who?

By samiup on 7/7/10, Rating: 0

RE: ars who?

By omnicronx on 7/7/2010 3:13:05 PM , Rating: 2

If by most you mean maybe 15-20% of its users based its easily available web traffic, then sure..

Go read some of the latest Apple articles (such as "Why Apple's iPhone 4 bumper case is a rip-off") they are not really Pro Apple, the fact thats some of its readers are Apple supporters is irrelevant. Their coverage is actually quite objective in my opinion.

Personally I find that their MS coverage (which is its own section, just like Apple) is pretty good, and have been getting information from them for a while.

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