mex_time.m tests the
running time of MATLAB concerning MEX, in particular on GitHub Actions. See the action
"Test running time concerning MEX" for the results.
Here is the data obtained by the action on 20 2022.
System: GNU/Linux | Language: C | MATLAB: 2022b | Time: 2022.11.20 20:04:45
MEX configured to use 'gcc' for C language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 0.411895 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 3.787514 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.003140 seconds
System: Windows | Language: C | MATLAB: 2022b | Time: 2022.11.20 20:07:03
MEX configured to use 'Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 (C)' for C language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 3.754074 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 5.623533 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.003770 seconds
System: macOS | Language: C | MATLAB: 2022b | Time: 2022.11.20 20:08:20
MEX configured to use 'Xcode with Clang' for C language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 33.336665 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 7.626372 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.356424 seconds
System: GNU/Linux | Language: Fortran | MATLAB: 2022b | Time: 2022.11.20 20:04:40
MEX configured to use 'gfortran' for FORTRAN language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 1.091481 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 3.671188 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.004080 seconds
System: Windows | Language: Fortran | MATLAB: 2022b | Time: 2022.11.20 20:07:16
MEX configured to use 'Intel oneAPI 2021 for Fortran with Microsoft Visual Studio 2019' for FORTRAN language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 2.050325 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 3.816973 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.004131 seconds
System: macOS | Language: Fortran | MATLAB: 2022b | Time: 2022.11.20 20:10:21
MEX configured to use 'Intel Fortran Composer XE' for FORTRAN language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 44.020401 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 19.131698 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.066389 seconds
Here is the data obtained by the action on 26 February 2022.
System: GNU/Linux | Language: C | MATLAB: 2021b | Time: 2022.02.26 05:46:36
MEX configured to use 'gcc' for C language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 0.477950 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 4.500026 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.003845 seconds
System: Windows | Language: C | MATLAB: 2021b | Time: 2022.02.26 05:47:56
MEX configured to use 'Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 (C)' for C language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 2.518557 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 4.416958 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.004215 seconds
System: macOS | Language: C | MATLAB: 2021b | Time: 2022.02.26 05:49:01
MEX configured to use 'Xcode with Clang' for C language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 17.602277 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 5.979585 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.130843 seconds
System: GNU/Linux | Language: Fortran | MATLAB: 2021b | Time: 2022.02.26 05:46:20
MEX configured to use 'gfortran' for FORTRAN language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 0.835881 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 2.768746 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.003279 seconds
System: Windows | Language: Fortran | MATLAB: 2021b | Time: 2022.02.26 05:51:04
MEX configured to use 'Intel oneAPI 2021 for Fortran with Microsoft Visual Studio 2019' for FORTRAN language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 1.660305 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 3.495534 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.003299 seconds
System: macOS | Language: Fortran | MATLAB: 2021b | Time: 2022.02.26 05:49:47
MEX configured to use 'Intel Fortran Composer XE' for FORTRAN language compilation.
- Time for setting MEX up: 248.263933 seconds
- Time for mexifying timestwo: 87.093711 seconds
- Time for 100 runs of timestwo: 0.078741 seconds
It turns out that MEX is much slower on macOS than on Linux: slow to set up, slow to mexify, and the MEX function is slow to run. In particular, on 24 February 2022, it is about 250 times slower to set up MEX for Fortran on macOS than on Linux. The speed on macOS has improved a lot over time, but there is still a significant difference compared with Linux and Windows.
However, note that the significant difference probably comes from the setup of MATLAB on GitHub Actions for Linux and for macOS. It will likely disappear if we do the timing on local machines.
- GitHub issue of
matlab-actions/setup-matlab:MEXis much slower on macOS than on Linux. - MATLAB Answers: Is MEX known to be slow on macOS?
- StackOverflow: Is MEX of MATLAB known to be slow on macOS?
Feel free to contact me if have suggestions or questions. See my homepage for contact information.