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I've always held that power (features) trumps speed unless we're talking about OLTP. Machines will get faster quickly. Providing a strong platform is more imp

I've always held that power (features) trumps speed unless we're talking about OLTP. Machines will get faster quickly. Providing a strong platform is more important than being the fastest, today. YMMV.

coldtea 11y ago
>Machines will get faster quickly. Perhaps you missed the memo about Moore's Law officially dying, and the fact that speed (as opposed to transistor) wise, we haven't seen any real increase in the past 5+ years and we are not expecting anything much either... http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/02/moores-law-really-is-dead-this-time/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/02/moores... https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/2016/02/15/moores-law-is-dead https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/2016/02/15/moores-l... http://fossbytes.com/intel-moore-law-dead-chip-tick-tock/ http://fossbytes.com/intel-moore-law-dead-chip-tick-tock/
- wpietri 11y ago
  Yeah, as an industry I think we're in denial about this. Since the dawn of time, we could keep doing whatever we were doing and things would just magically get faster. That era is over. But we're still mostly using languages and techniques that aren't well suited for where the future's going.
  - tachion 11y ago
    Still? I'd thought we've already used the languages (and thus tools and techniques) designed to squeeze all the available performance from the hardware - it's called assembler ;) My grandfather, who was a programmer and to his last days used to write in asm was mocking me every time when I tried to convince him to anything higher level than asm, be it Python or C. Perhaps he was right and we'll be going back to such tools?
    - coldtea 11y ago
      No, it's a totally different landscape. First, CPUs are much more complex, with branch prediction, parallel execution, etc, so manually rolling assembler is not really feasible. Second, programs are much larger and demanding nowadays (e.g. neither graphics, nor sound, nor networking and numerous other modern day services were as advanced, prevalent, or even existing, in the good times of assembler coded apps). Third, today it's all about multicore performance. Not much use to squeeze everything from a single core, when you have other 3 or 7 or 15 sitting idle...
masklinn 11y ago
In the past 5 or so years, "full" computers (desktops and laptops) haven't gotten any faster in ways current browsers can make use of. Mobile devices have, but much of the "faster" is gated behind power issues, and having a web application killing your battery life to a few hours doesn't a great experience make. [0] hence efforts like Servo, to explore architectural rebuilding such that browsers can actually use multithreading and GPGPU support for their normal workload
anexprogrammer 11y ago
I've been waiting 30+ years for computers to get subjectively faster. They don't. Ever. Every new machine or processor is dragged down by the increased bloat and inefficient coding of the new OS to go with it. It'll be quicker starting up, only until you've installed a few basics, then it'll take as long as it always did. They feel too slow always. Always have. Movies show things happening instantly - I now believe that will never happen. The Matrix should have included 1m "Loading" dialogues. :) I get annoyed waiting for websites to load on multi Mbps broadband just like I did in the 90s with a dialup connection. Sure things are doing more, but I'd like the cycle to include making that "instant" future please.

coldtea 11y ago

>Machines will get faster quickly. Perhaps you missed the memo about Moore's Law officially dying, and the fact that speed (as opposed to transistor) wise, we haven't seen any real increase in the past 5+ years and we are not expecting anything much either... http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/02/moores-law-really-is-dead-this-time/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/02/moores... https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/2016/02/15/moores-law-is-dead https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/2016/02/15/moores-l... http://fossbytes.com/intel-moore-law-dead-chip-tick-tock/ http://fossbytes.com/intel-moore-law-dead-chip-tick-tock/

wpietri 11y ago
Yeah, as an industry I think we're in denial about this. Since the dawn of time, we could keep doing whatever we were doing and things would just magically get faster. That era is over. But we're still mostly using languages and techniques that aren't well suited for where the future's going.
- tachion 11y ago
  Still? I'd thought we've already used the languages (and thus tools and techniques) designed to squeeze all the available performance from the hardware - it's called assembler ;) My grandfather, who was a programmer and to his last days used to write in asm was mocking me every time when I tried to convince him to anything higher level than asm, be it Python or C. Perhaps he was right and we'll be going back to such tools?
  - coldtea 11y ago
    No, it's a totally different landscape. First, CPUs are much more complex, with branch prediction, parallel execution, etc, so manually rolling assembler is not really feasible. Second, programs are much larger and demanding nowadays (e.g. neither graphics, nor sound, nor networking and numerous other modern day services were as advanced, prevalent, or even existing, in the good times of assembler coded apps). Third, today it's all about multicore performance. Not much use to squeeze everything from a single core, when you have other 3 or 7 or 15 sitting idle...

masklinn 11y ago

In the past 5 or so years, "full" computers (desktops and laptops) haven't gotten any faster in ways current browsers can make use of. Mobile devices have, but much of the "faster" is gated behind power issues, and having a web application killing your battery life to a few hours doesn't a great experience make. [0] hence efforts like Servo, to explore architectural rebuilding such that browsers can actually use multithreading and GPGPU support for their normal workload

anexprogrammer 11y ago

I've been waiting 30+ years for computers to get subjectively faster. They don't. Ever. Every new machine or processor is dragged down by the increased bloat and inefficient coding of the new OS to go with it. It'll be quicker starting up, only until you've installed a few basics, then it'll take as long as it always did. They feel too slow always. Always have. Movies show things happening instantly - I now believe that will never happen. The Matrix should have included 1m "Loading" dialogues. :) I get annoyed waiting for websites to load on multi Mbps broadband just like I did in the 90s with a dialup connection. Sure things are doing more, but I'd like the cycle to include making that "instant" future please.