The "r" stands for restricted perl, the real name. Like in rpython.
The author is a bit confused what a optimizing compiler is. You have to forgive him. rperl is a restricted perl which maps typed data via Inline::CPP to C++, and if all ops and data in a function are properly typed and not-dynamic ("no magic"), then the function can be compiled to C++ and executed there.
Thus the 200x performance win for certain static and typed parts.
And there exist "optimizing compilers" for perl 5, rperl is more a transparent perl - C++ mapping where gcc does the optimizations.
The author is a bit confused what a optimizing compiler is. You have to forgive him. rperl is a restricted perl which maps typed data via Inline::CPP to C++, and if all ops and data in a function are properly typed and not-dynamic ("no magic"), then the function can be compiled to C++ and executed there. Thus the 200x performance win for certain static and typed parts.
And there exist "optimizing compilers" for perl 5, rperl is more a transparent perl - C++ mapping where gcc does the optimizations.