[root@devel3 root]# ./test.pl Benchmark: timing 1000000 iterations of iterative_c, iterative_p, recursive_c, recursive_p... iterative_c: 1 wallclock secs ( 0.42 usr + 0.00 sys = 0.42 CPU) @ 2380952.38/s (n=1000000) iterative_p: 20 wallclock secs (18.34 usr + 0.00 sys = 18.34 CPU) @ 54525.63/s (n=1000000) recursive_c: 1 wallclock secs ( 0.60 usr + 0.00 sys = 0.60 CPU) @ 1666666.67/s (n=1000000) recursive_p: 38 wallclock secs (37.75 usr + 0.00 sys = 37.75 CPU) @ 26490.07/s (n=1000000) Rate recursive_p iterative_p recursive_c iterative_c recursive_p 26490/s -- -51% -98% -99% iterative_p 54526/s 106% -- -97% -98% recursive_c 1666667/s 6192% 2957% -- -30% iterative_c 2380952/s 8888% 4267% 43% -- [root@devel3 root]# gcc -v Reading specs from /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-redhat-linux/2.96/specs gcc version 2.96 20000731 (Red Hat Linux 7.3 2.96-110)