Performance-wise, the winner is a pre-release version of Tower Technology's TowerJ compiler, which generates a native executable from pure Java code that runs almost 25 percent faster than the fastest Java interpreter, even when the interpreter has a just-in-time compiler.

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Then there was Jack, an interpreter with whom Miska had spent a lot of time.

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He gave the example of using an interpreter which often made appointments take double the normal time.

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Visiting Congo for the first time without knowing the local language, Kiswahili, I was dependent on my talented interpreter Fidel for putting into words my countless questions and gratitude to the people I interviewed.

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