Your Perl is Slow (and it does not have to be)

Nick Koston is obviously knowledgeable and interested in optimizing Perl code. In this presentation, he explored some Perl tools that help in optimizing (Devel::NYTProf, Benchmark, and Data::Dumper). He emphasized the concept that optimization is a trade-off and that sometimes more optimization does not provide any benefit.

Much of the presentation focused on the Devel::NYTProf profiling module. Nick explained some of what you need to know to interpret NYTProf's reports and how to tell when you are finished. He also explored using the Benchmark module to confirm some tests, pointing out that by their nature all of these tools lie.

In addition to the obvious speed issues, Nick discussed how loading modules can consume more memory and time than you might think.

All in all, it was a very interesting technical presentation. As the first technical meeting we've had in several months, it really generated a lot of interest. There were quite a few questions and much discussion among the attendees.

We had 20 people attending this month. As always, we'd like to thank cPanel, Inc. for providing the meeting space and food for the group.