;-) I didn't cook the numbers, and I tested again, and got the same number. My perl is 5.8.0, and java is 1.4.0_01.

But I am using my old PC/win32, which has only 32M RAM. My guess is that Perl requires way more memory, otherwise there would be lots of pageout.

Anyway, even on your 512M, Perl is still slowER, but not that ugly ;-).

My apology, Buddy, I take back my word that you are coward. Now I know you are a man serious with tech, not a fundamentalist.