I have written a small  application the same way (as far as
possible) in Java, Dylan, Common Lisp, and Smalltalk.  The application
is a simple version of the CN2 rule induction algorithm.  The source
code for each version  is available at:

      www.infinet.com/~btobin/perf.html

    The timings for each (5 trials):
    Java (VJ++ 6.0 preview):
        1       9.304 seconds
        2       7.521 seconds
        3       7.121 seconds
        4       7.381 seconds
        5       7.832 seconds

    Lisp (ACL/Win3.02):
         1      11.997 seconds
         2      11.557 seconds
         3      11.397 seconds
         4      11.686 seconds
         5      11.476 seconds

    Dylan (Harlequin Dylan 1.0 beta 2):
        1       6.965591 seconds
        2       7.729048 seconds
        3       7.093233 seconds
        4       7.170502 seconds
        5       7.785091 seconds

    Smalltalk (Smalltalk MT 1.5 beta 3): 10.3 seconds.
        1      8.422 seconds
        2      8.492 seconds
        3      8.301 seconds
        4      8.492 seconds
        5      8.352 seconds

    Your advice on speeding up the Lisp code is solicited, but I think
my main problem is that I'm using ACL/Win3.02 instead of ACL 4.3 for
NT.  I've run the code under 4.3 for Linux, and the times were
excellent:

Lisp (ACL 4.3 for Linux):

1          2.624 seconds
2          2.524 seconds
3          2.515 seconds
4          2.525 seconds
5          2.510 seconds

Does anyone have 4.3 for Linux and 4.3 for NT running on the same
machine?  How does performance differ from one to the other?

Thanks,
Bruce T.