Juan is correct. "10 times faster" indicates "faster by a factor of 10." A
factor, when multiplied by another factor, yields a result. Since we're
talking about speed, let's talk about MPH. Assuming that a car named
"VS.NET" is travelling at 10 MPH, and another car named "VB6" is travelling
at 100 MPH, 100 = 10 X 10. This makes 100 MPH faster by a factor of 10, or
10 times faster than 10 MPH, and makes the car named "VB6" 10 times faster
than the car named "VS.Net."
When talking about speed, you are always talking about a product of
WORK/TIME, usually expressed as a single number. In the case of movement,
you are talking about DISTANCE/TIME, as in MILES/HOUR, or more abstractly
"Miles Travelled/One Hour."
In this particular case, the discussion is regarding "Project
Compilation"/TIME. Assuming that, working with the same project, or at least
the same amount of work involved, VB6 compiles ProjectA in 6 seconds, and
VS.Net compiles ProjectA in 60 seconds, the speed of compilation would be
expressed as COMPILATION/SECOND, COMPILATION/MINUTE, or, more abstractly,
"ProjectA Compilation/6 Seconds" versus "ProjectA Compilation/60 Seconds."
So, let's assign an arbitrary "work size" value to ProjectA, and for the
sake of simplicity, we'll give it a value of 6, which is evenly divisible
into both 6 and 60. Again, for the sake of simplicity, let's say that our
time span interval to Minutes. There are 60 Seconds in a Minute. The
objective here is to obtain "ProjectA Compilation/ One Minute," so we need
to resolve the VB6's fraction's denominator to 1 Minute. We therefore
multiply both the numerator and the denominator by 10, resulting in "10
ProjectA Compilations/One Minute." Again, we want to resolve VS.Net's
fraction's denominator to 1 Minute. We therefore multiply both the numerator
and the denominator by 0.1, resulting in "1 ProjectA Compilation/ One
Minute." We may now express the speed of both compilers as a measure of
"Compilations/Minute," or, more simply, CPM.
Expressed in this way, we may say that the OP made a proposition that VB6
compiles at 10 CPM, and VS.Net compiles at 1 CPM. As 10 = 10X1, we may say
that the OP made a proposition that VB.Net is "10 times faster" than VS.Net,
or "faster by a factor of 10" than VS.Net.
In conclusion, Juan is right; you are wrong. It is not a matter of opinion,
with which you may agree or disagree (as in "I have to disagree."). It is a
matter of mathematical fact. You DO need a basic math seminar. And you have
now had your introductory lecture. If you wish to prosper as a programmer, I
suggest you take Juan's advice. Programming is all about math. It is highly
abstract, but it is math. And _nothing else_.
--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
I'd rather be a hammer than a nail.
"(e-mail address removed)"