[adrianratnapala]

We can't "control".

For example: someone in nineties-or-naughties once experimentally "proved" that Java was faster than C for matrix maths -- because of the overhead of `free()`! If that sounds ridiculous to you, then understand this really matters for certain implementations of certain matrix problems.

So the take-away hangs not on the nature of C vs. Java, but on whether the study matters in the real world. Emprics in CS are good for engineers quietly doing their own job, but for debates they are as fraught as in the soft-sciences.

Indeed CS is a soft-science. Or rather it is not a science at all, but a mathematical art, with bonus people issues.