# Compared Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemma 4

> Source: <https://www.dotnetperls.com/2026_9_17_compared-gemini-38-flash-gemma-4>
> Published: 2026-09-17 07:00:00+00:00

Today I wanted to test **Gemini 3.8 Flash** (a cloud model from Google). I decided to compare its output to a local **Gemma 4** model (specifically `gemma-4-26B_q4_0-it.gguf`). I wanted to generate a somewhat complex, performance-tuned **Rust parsing function**.

First I tested **Gemma 4**. It used a `while`-loop over the string's bytes, and a state machine. It called `starts_with` several times. The function appears to work correctly, although it would use `starts_with` 4 times over every byte.

Next, I used **Gemini 3.8 Flash** on OpenRouter. It generated the same basic function, but with 2 additional optimizations. It uses a "fast path" through quoted strings, and then a `match` before calling `starts_with`. So it uses `starts_with` 1 time for every byte.

Both functions will work **correctly**; **Gemini 3.8 Flash** used a fast path, and reduced the number of `starts_with` calls from 4 to 1 on each byte. So Gemini 3.8 Flash, for the cost of $0.01, gave me **faster code**. The speed difference may be small, but I pasted the Gemini function into my program.