4 ms·

I've done some ultra-fast optimizations of algorithms in C# before. Stack allocation and unmanaged pointers was essential for this. It seems that Span<T> is mak

I've done some ultra-fast optimizations of algorithms in C# before. Stack allocation and unmanaged pointers was essential for this. It seems that Span<T> is making this approach, in a sense, more accessible to more developers. This makes my optimization skills less valuable as more developers will know how to do this ;) However, this will greatly enhance awareness of C# as a language that can be used for reasonably high-performance code. Most people don't seem to understand how fast C# can be with good optimization techniques. This will help increase adoption of C# in the developer community.

dr_zoidberg 9y ago
OTOH, I'd say this gives you another tool to your optimization toolbox, and one that you can market as "this thing I was doing before with unmanaged pointers, can now be done in a safer way" (and call your previous clients to sell them the new-and-shiny-good-way-to-do-it).
- WorldMaker 9y ago
  Yeah, if Linq optimization work has taught me anything, `Span` will get lumped into "weird advanced things" by most developers and there will still be a role for developers that understand how to use it. (Aside: I still can't believe the number of developers I meet that seem to think of basic Linq concepts like `ToLookup` as "weird advanced things", which leads directly to long rants about `ToList` and why I consider it harmful.)
  - Nuzzerino 9y ago
    Yes and no. You're right on the money about Span being an advanced construct. However, before Span, stack allocated memory was essentially C programming in the CLR, and most of the benefits of the CLR (cross architecture compatibility, for one) therefore goes out the window, as you have dependencies on raw memory layout and stack space (determined by the CPU architecture and OS) and things like memcpy, which depend on binaries from the C runtime. If Span does not compromise these benefits, then the developer no longer has to think about those things. There will be an gain in ease of use. Granted, average developers aren't going to care about this (nor will they need to). But you should expect to see an increase in performance of many libraries, as most open source projects generally won't use unsafe code in order to increase performance.
primeblue 9y ago
C# gets better and better. Working in both Java and C#, I feel C# is way more dynamic and zippier and functionally richer.

dr_zoidberg 9y ago

OTOH, I'd say this gives you another tool to your optimization toolbox, and one that you can market as "this thing I was doing before with unmanaged pointers, can now be done in a safer way" (and call your previous clients to sell them the new-and-shiny-good-way-to-do-it).

WorldMaker 9y ago
Yeah, if Linq optimization work has taught me anything, `Span` will get lumped into "weird advanced things" by most developers and there will still be a role for developers that understand how to use it. (Aside: I still can't believe the number of developers I meet that seem to think of basic Linq concepts like `ToLookup` as "weird advanced things", which leads directly to long rants about `ToList` and why I consider it harmful.)
- Nuzzerino 9y ago
  Yes and no. You're right on the money about Span being an advanced construct. However, before Span, stack allocated memory was essentially C programming in the CLR, and most of the benefits of the CLR (cross architecture compatibility, for one) therefore goes out the window, as you have dependencies on raw memory layout and stack space (determined by the CPU architecture and OS) and things like memcpy, which depend on binaries from the C runtime. If Span does not compromise these benefits, then the developer no longer has to think about those things. There will be an gain in ease of use. Granted, average developers aren't going to care about this (nor will they need to). But you should expect to see an increase in performance of many libraries, as most open source projects generally won't use unsafe code in order to increase performance.

primeblue 9y ago

C# gets better and better. Working in both Java and C#, I feel C# is way more dynamic and zippier and functionally richer.