Re: [Fwd: Re: [OctDev] list of primes using D. Bernsteins fast primegen library]

[Paul Kienzle]

On Jun 14, 2006, at 11:19 AM, David Bateman wrote:

> > With a change to use a lookup table for small values of p, I think
> > you've demonstrated the case for the speed-up of your code. The next
> > question is how many people will really use this function and whether
> > the additional support costs of C code is offset by the number of
> > potential users who are impacted by this improvement. The final say is
> > of course up to John.
>
> I am also not sure how I would decide. There are adavantages (maybe 
> only for
> few users - I don't know) but there several drwabacks as well.

The code is small and self contained so this is not as big an issue as 
it is with
e.g., computational geometry codes that rely on QHull.  I believe it 
provides
functionality not available in primes such as listing the primes in a 
given
range.   Asking whether existing users will benefit from a 10x speedup 
is a
little unfair --- those for whom speed is important may have found 
another
package to do their work.

The biggest reason not to include it is that the original primegen does 
not
contain copyright and license information.

> Should I better never having made my suggestion :-)

Yes it often feels that way when you start contributing to a new 
project.
Thank you for persisting.

        - Paul