I agree that if I had used system(), only with no redirection, the performance would probably be the same. I didn't try that, but I did try backticks WITH redirection and got a similar penalty (or loss of efficiency?) to using system() with redirection. I noted that in an update to the OP. I am sorry if I was unfair.

Tell me, is the following an accurate characterization:

By using backticks, I am effectively making the inside of my program the system call's STDOUT. Using backticks in a void context is the functional equivalent of redirecting output of the system call to /dev/null. With backticks, the computer has to do less work (and the programmer has to do less typing).

I don't mean to endorse of the practice by the above statements.

I like computer programming because it's like Legos for the mind.

In reply to Re^4: I think I just found a good reason to use backticks in a void context. by OfficeLinebacker
in thread I thought I found a good reason to use backticks in a void context, but I was wrong. by OfficeLinebacker

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.