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Linear encoding is better than interpreting a tree because accessing adjacent elements in arrays is faster than chasing pointers. Poor performance depends on w

Linear encoding is better than interpreting a tree because accessing adjacent elements in arrays is faster than chasing pointers. Poor performance depends on what your language does. What's poor performance for SQL will be different than for JS. Features which don't have efficient implementations will be slow. If the language encourages use of inefficient features, then it will generally be slower. The easiest optimization technique is to leverage an existing back end; for example, target LLVM or JVM or .NET.

matheusmoreira 7y ago
> Linear encoding is better than interpreting a tree because accessing adjacent elements in arrays is faster than chasing pointers. Yes. From this we can derive some general optimization principles: reduce indirection, increase data locality. Are there any others? > Poor performance depends on what your language does. What's poor performance for SQL will be different than for JS. Let's consider modern dynamic languages like Javascript and Python. What performance problems did these languages face? Which optimizations had the biggest impact on code execution performance? Which optimizations were the easiest to understand and implement? For example, I know Javascript virtual machines will automatically create hidden classes for objects. This allows the data to be accessed by constant offsets rather than lookups.
- barrkel 7y ago
  You're sticking your toe in a very big lake, and this isn't the right forum to meaningfully talk about it. (I don't mean this in any way negatively, but your two posts have a distinct whiff of Help Vampire - https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19665/the-help-vampire-problem https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19665/the-help-vamp... - just a tiny chunk of information, and a naive question where you'd need years to properly survey the knowledge. It's a big topic and you need to be goal directed to get anywhere IMO.)
  - matheusmoreira 7y ago
    The author of the article said we could ask anything: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23054664 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23054664 I thought it was a good opportunity to ask the questions that have been in my mind for a long time. They were open-ended questions but I don't think they were incoherent. I've read the source code of certain programming language virtual machines and have seen optimizations both simple and complex. For a long time I've been wondering if there was a set of basic optimizations every developer could apply to their language and get significant improvements with little difficulty. I don't have a project I need help with, I was just curious. I certainly don't think I'm entitled to answers or attention. If I offended anybody, I apologize. My intent was to spawn a discussion. > this isn't the right forum to meaningfully talk about it What is the correct place?

matheusmoreira 7y ago

> Linear encoding is better than interpreting a tree because accessing adjacent elements in arrays is faster than chasing pointers. Yes. From this we can derive some general optimization principles: reduce indirection, increase data locality. Are there any others? > Poor performance depends on what your language does. What's poor performance for SQL will be different than for JS. Let's consider modern dynamic languages like Javascript and Python. What performance problems did these languages face? Which optimizations had the biggest impact on code execution performance? Which optimizations were the easiest to understand and implement? For example, I know Javascript virtual machines will automatically create hidden classes for objects. This allows the data to be accessed by constant offsets rather than lookups.

barrkel 7y ago
You're sticking your toe in a very big lake, and this isn't the right forum to meaningfully talk about it. (I don't mean this in any way negatively, but your two posts have a distinct whiff of Help Vampire - https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19665/the-help-vampire-problem https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19665/the-help-vamp... - just a tiny chunk of information, and a naive question where you'd need years to properly survey the knowledge. It's a big topic and you need to be goal directed to get anywhere IMO.)
- matheusmoreira 7y ago
  The author of the article said we could ask anything: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23054664 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23054664 I thought it was a good opportunity to ask the questions that have been in my mind for a long time. They were open-ended questions but I don't think they were incoherent. I've read the source code of certain programming language virtual machines and have seen optimizations both simple and complex. For a long time I've been wondering if there was a set of basic optimizations every developer could apply to their language and get significant improvements with little difficulty. I don't have a project I need help with, I was just curious. I certainly don't think I'm entitled to answers or attention. If I offended anybody, I apologize. My intent was to spawn a discussion. > this isn't the right forum to meaningfully talk about it What is the correct place?