[Haskell-cafe] Seeking reference(s) relating to FP performance

[Graham Klyne]

I've taken it as an article of faith that performance of FP language 
implementations has been improving quite steadily over the past few 
years.  I'd like to assert this, but I can't find any clear evidence to 
support such an assertion.  I note that the "about Haskell" page makes a 
similar assertion, but it doesn't offer any hint of supporting evidence:
[[
Aren't functional programs very slow?

They used to be, but the compilers have now caught up. Haskell programs run 
fast enough for all but the most performance-demanding applications.
]]
-- http://www.haskell.org/aboutHaskell.html

I'm looking for a reference -- informal will be enough -- that can give an 
perspective of progress in functional language implementation 
performance.  I'm not looking for a single benchmark that shows a case of 
blindingly-fast functional code, but a pointer to trends of improving 
performance.  It would also serve my purpose to have indications based on 
languages other than Haskell (e.g. ML and friends).

Any ideas, please?

#g


------------
Graham Klyne
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