Very related: Know your compiler and what optimisations it will already do for you. I have often seen code which is very hard to read because the programmer has

Very related: Know your compiler and what optimisations it will already do for you. I have often seen code which is very hard to read because the programmer has tried hard to optimise it (e.g. reuse same variables etc.). Here is an interesting read: http://www.fefe.de/know-your-compiler.pdf http://www.fefe.de/know-your-compiler.pdf And also a lecture video: http://chaosradio.ccc.de/camp2007_m4v_1952.html http://chaosradio.ccc.de/camp2007_m4v_1952.html