Over-optimization

September 17, 2024

Some programmers get a rush out of optimizing code & saving nanoseconds. A wasted loop or inefficient algorithm is distasteful.

Other programmers realize, for the vast majority of cases, optimizing compute is mostly a waste of time.

Compute is cheap! No manager is gonna complain about the cost of jobs that take a little while longer. No user is going to notice the difference between 50 & 100ms of latency.

Let me be clear: there are times when optimization matters. Making code more efficient can be a huge win, but only if that code is a bottleneck or wildly inefficient.

In most cases, just let the computer do its job. It'll be fast enough.


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