[luatex] LuaTeX precompilation

[blumens at fi.muni.cz]

Hans Hagen wrote:
> On 12/20/2023 3:48 PM, Axel Kittenberger wrote:
> > Sorry, but I have to disagree here, for me the performance
> > differences were indeed a dealbreaker for me to push lualatex as a
> > general purpose replacement in my department.
> 
> In documents of average complexity i normally get 30 page/second
> performance. On more complex documents pdftex can be slower. I have a
> 2017 laptop so more modern hardware will gove lower numbers

I agree with Alex here. Performance is the only reason I haven't
switched to lualatex for all my documents yet.

For instance, I get the numbers

   8 s  for pdflatex
  12 s  for lualatex with the same TFM fonts
  18 s  for lualatex using luaotfload and fontspec instead

This was for a math heavy document of about 600 pages using large OTF fonts.

This performance difference is very noticeable. 8 s compile times are
fine, but having to wait 18 s interrupts my workflow.

Note that I did not spend time to figure out what causes the slowdown.
It might be harfbuzz, but it also might be fontspec, which wouldn't be
luatex's fault.

Achim