Keywords: performance, compliation, Renjin
Webpages:
http://docs.renjin.org/en/latest/package/ R is a highly dynamic language that has developed, in some circles, a reputation for poor performance. New programmers are counseled to avoid for loops and experienced users condemened to rewrite perfectly good R code in C++.
Renjin is an alternative implementation of the R language that includes a Just-in-Time compiler which uses information at runtime to dynamically specialize
R code and generate highly-efficient machine code, allowing users to write “normal”, expresssive R code and let the compiler worry about performance.
While Renjin aims to provide a complete alternative to the GNU R interpreter, it is not yet fully compatible with all R packages, and lacks a number of features, including graphics support. For this reason, we present
renjin, a new package that embeds Renjin’s JIT compiler in the existing GNU R compiler, enabling even novice programmers to achieve a high performance without resorting to C++ or making the switch to a different interpreter.
This talk will introduce the techniques behind Renjin’s optimizing compiler, demonstrate how it can be simply applied to performance-critical sections of R code, and some tips and tricks for getting the most of out of
renjin.
