Improved JavaScript performance

Posted Mar 10, 2011 21:32 UTC (Thu) by nybble41 (subscriber, #55106)
In reply to: Improved JavaScript performance by alecs1
Parent article: Chrome 10 released

tuos is correct. Translated into math, if X is the original speed, then:

"Y times/percent as fast (as X)" => Y * X
"Y times/percent faster (than X)" => X + (Y * X)

So the original phrase "1.056 times faster" would actually mean slightly over twice the speed (X + (1.056 * X) = 2.056 * X). The correct phrase is probably "1.056 times as fast" or "0.056 times faster" (or "5.6% faster").

Improved JavaScript performance

Posted Mar 14, 2011 21:37 UTC (Mon) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link]

So when people say "it's two times faster!" you claim that they mean it's 1+(2*1)=3X as fast?

That's clearly wrong. Here's lots of evidence: http://www.google.com/search?q=two+times+faster

You're trying to apply mathematical rigor to the English language.

Improved JavaScript performance

Posted Mar 22, 2011 15:44 UTC (Tue) by nye (subscriber, #51576) [Link] (2 responses)

>So the original phrase "1.056 times faster" would actually mean slightly over twice the speed

I'd bet both my kidneys that if you actually try talking like this in real life, you would be misunderstood 100 percent of the time. Because you're completely wrong, of course.

Improved JavaScript performance

Posted Mar 22, 2011 20:52 UTC (Tue) by nybble41 (subscriber, #55106) [Link] (1 responses)

I agree that many other people, perhaps most, would misunderstand. However, that is merely because they are used to authors using the phrases incorrectly. Some sources (e.g. <http://www.theslot.com/times.html>) go so far as to say "it's safe to assume that a writer is using the 'times more' phrasing erroneously". It is safest to simply word the statement another way, like "faster by a factor of 1.056", if that is what one actually means.

The plain and precise meaning of "X times faster" is "X times more speed", which reduces to "(original speed multiplied by X) more speed" => "(original speed multiplied by X) plus (original speed)" => "(X plus one) times the original speed" => "(X plus one) times as fast".

Consider that "50% faster" means "50% more than the original speed", not "50% of the original speed", and "50%" is identical to "0.5 times". Why should "105.6% faster" be interpreted any differently?

Obviously English is not a prescriptive language, and words can change their meaning over time; however, I would hate to see a useful phrase like "X times more" ruined in this way when we already have a perfectly good way to express the intended concept, "X times as much".

Improved JavaScript performance

Posted Mar 22, 2011 21:08 UTC (Tue) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link]

> I would hate to see a useful phrase like "X times more" ruined in this way

Um, hello? Look at the link in my reply above. It's long since ruined and, I'm sorry to say, your one-man effort on LWN isn't going to change anything.