20.5. CGI Language-Specific Optimization Tips

While any programming language that includes the concept of standard in and standard out can be used to write a CGI, some languages are intrinsically more suited to the task than others. In this section, I review the most common CGI languages (sh, Perl, and C), point out their strengths and weaknesses for CGI use, and give some language-specific optimization tips. But first, here are a few performance tips general to all languages:

• Keep loops small.

• Use table lookups rather than calculation, where practical.

• Use integer rather than floating-point math.

• Avoid dynamic memory allocation.

• Profile your code and optimize the most used parts.