The Clarion for Windows Performance Gauge

GAUGE launches test programs that compare the relative performance
of Clarion for Windows, Delphi, Visual Basic, and PowerBuilder. 

Launching the Benchmarks

The benchmark programs are stand-alone .EXEs that can be run 
independently. However, these programs have been written to 
operate as dynamic data exchange (DDE) servers. The Performance 
Gauge is their client, launching them with a RUN statement, and 
stimulating them to action using the Clarion DDE library.

The Clarion and Delphi benchmark programs are complete "one-piece"
executables. The Visual Basic and PowerBuilder benchmarks require 
run-time .DLL files. The resulting executable sizes can be 
displayed by pressing the ".EXE Size..." button.

Though not measured by the Performance Gauge, the time required to 
load a VB program load time is considerably greater than that 
required for Clarion or Delphi programs. Because of their huge 
size, PowerBuilder programs take a very long time to load. 
 

The Sieve of Eratosthenes Benchmark

The "Sieve of Eratosthenes" is an ancient algorithm for finding 
the number prime numbers between one and any positive integer.  
This algorithm is commonly used to  benchmark compiler efficiency. 
The Performance Gauge measures the number of times per minute that 
each program can count the primes between 1 and 1,000. To produce 
similar duration, the Clarion "Sieve" cycles 4,000 times, Delphi 
cycles 2,000 times, VB cycles 100 times, and PB cycles 7 times.
 
 
The Video Performance Benchmark

To test video performance, a typical 3 dimensional dialog box is 
displayed repeatedly. The dialog box contains text controls, a 
combo box, a spin box, radio buttons, check boxes, and "OK" and 
"Cancel" buttons. All entry fields are initialized with data.  

As soon as the dialog box has been completely painted, it is 
closed. When the window is completely removed, it is redisplayed.
A window is removed by repainting the window beneath it. In order
to control this process, the benchmark dialog is displayed over a 
maximized window.
 
The "UpdateWindow" function from the standard Windows API is used 
to verify that the complete Window is visible and that it has been
completely removed. In Clarion this is unnecessary (but benign) 
because the ACCEPT loop is not initiated until the window has been 
painted. In Delphi, the "Update" method performs an "UpdateWindow".
 
Visual Basic requires custom controls (.VBXs) to produce 3D 
effects. 3D Gizmos by MicroHelp have been used for this purpose. 
To produce similar duration, the Clarion benchmark cycles 25 
times, Delphi cycles 40 times, VB cycles 20 times, and PB cycles 
10 times.
 
 
Installation
 
The Performance Gauge can be run from any drive and path, however,
the directory containing CWGAUGE.EXE must also contain Delphi, VB,
and PB sub-directories for the benchmark executables.