Subj : Performance: How does accessing a method in a Java class work?
To   : netscape.public.mozilla.jseng
From : "Neil Kolban" <kolban@kolban.com>
Date : Tue Oct 14 2003 12:08 pm

Folks,
I am looking into embedding Rhino ...

I want to be able to script access to Java objects.

As a test, in my JavaScript, I create a class, and call a member in the
class 20,000 times:

var myObj = new MyClass();
var i = 1;
while (i<20000)
{
    myObj.myMethod("ABC");
    i = i + 1;
}


In Java, I perform the same task:

MyClass myObj = new MyClass();
int i = 1;
while (i<20000)
{
    myObj.myMethod("ABC");
    i = i + 1;
}

In Java, the loop takes 60 msecs.  In JavaScript, the loop takes 500 msecs.

So .. my question is, what does JavaScript "do" when it wants to call a
method?   Does it go through an introspection / reflection each time?  Is
there some technique I can use to improve the underlying performance?

Neil

.