5 ms·
Ask HN: What’s the most executed piece of code of all time?
My guess would either be the memory allocation algorithm or file access for the Linux kernel?
Any thoughts?
- rzzzwilson 7y agoOperating system idle loop?
- kidbomb 7y agoI would say memcpy or similar (strcpy)
- paulkrush 7y agoWhat does in code mean? So operations in a ASIC don't count, but DNA does?
- pnako 7y agoAs in, distinguishable piece of code running on a CPU? Probably some routines in BLAS / LAPACK.
- wanderingstan 7y ago"Piece Of code" is too imprecise. A single instruction on a microprocessor? A subroutine? As another comment implied, does DNA count as code? Or transistor logic within a microprocessor? A related but more subjective question I used to ask developer friends was "what's the most IMPORTANT piece of code written that can fit on one screen?". The best answer I got was rc4, written by an anonymous author but what made security, privacy, and digital commerce possible on the web.
- aantix 7y agoIs it part of SSL?
- wanderingstan 7y agoYes, and most other security standards. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RC4#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RC4#History