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Yes, this is where, in practice, I've seen the adage used incorrectly. Even when Knuth isn't quoted directly, the idea that "premature optimization" is inherent
by hire_charts 11y ago
Yes, this is where, in practice, I've seen the adage used incorrectly. Even when Knuth isn't quoted directly, the idea that "premature optimization" is inherently a bad thing has led many a web developer down the path of terrible architecture decisions. So I understand Duffy's point exactly.
It's not that all issues are preventable. It's that you can prevent a lot of them with just a little extra work up front.
It's a misuse of Knuth's original point, which has much more to do with how brittle and incomprehensible "optimized" code can become.
- ubernostrum 11y agoI prefer the development order of make it work, make it correct, then make it fast. Expresses a similar idea, but in terms of priorities instead of "don't do that at all".
- vmorgulis 11y ago> Expresses a similar idea, but in terms of priorities instead of "don't do that at all". The programming language affects a lot the criterion. Some are known to be "correct" (like Haskell), others "fast" (like C) ... Given an infinite amount of time, I suppose the three can be reached in any language.