Date:         Wed, 26 Sep 2001 11:17:59 -0400
Reply-To:     Gerhard Hellriegel <ghellrieg@T-ONLINE.DE>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Gerhard Hellriegel <ghellrieg@T-ONLINE.DE>
Subject:      Re: Speed of =: vs. SUBSTR()...

Simply, whithout testing: the operator =: has to be faster, because the
implementation of an operator is can be much more efficient, than a
function (subroutine) call (no parameter passing, always in memory because
not much code, ...)! Otherwise I'd say, the implementation is stupid.
The thing, that subsequent calls of a function sometimes is faster: the
function is a peace of code, maybe located in a DLL. This has to be loaded
in memory by the first call. If you have enough real memory the chance is
good, that it rests in the real memory for a while and can be reused
without loading again.