I have a nice, simple question, though the answer may not be as simple. I really don't know. First, two code snippets.

Snippet one:

exec('/etc/init.d/networking restart');

[download]

Snippet two:

my $output = `/etc/init.d/networking restart`;
print $output;

[download]

So, with those in mind -- why does the backtick version take an age and a half to run, while the /etc/init.d/networking restart that picks up where exec() left off is pretty much instantaneous? I don't imagine the assignment can be taking that long, though I suppose I could for some reason be mistaken in such an assumption.

print substr("Just another Perl hacker", 0, -2);
 - apotheon
CopyWrite Chad Perrin

In reply to exec vs. backtick-and-assign performance by apotheon

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