A more general discussion about performance between C++ and Java can be found below:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/145110/c-performance-vs-j...
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/145110/c-performance-vs-j...
It is basically the great programming language shootout at http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/ redone with different GCC optimization levels.
It is clearly visible where Java Hotspot shines, but in most cases C++ wins by a factor of two. It also mentions a technique how you can do profiling analysis with GCC that makes similar optimizations than Hotspot does.
Wrong.
It is basically the old Doug Bagley programs which were replaced 3 years before the zi.fi/shootout article was posted.
A little history - http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GreatComputerLanguageShootout
In this new decade -
http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/u64q/java.php#faster-progr...