I'm not going to contradict you. This was just one random example, based on the git/SHA-1 story. To stay in this example: If someone is claiming SHA-1 is fast

I'm not going to contradict you. This was just one random example, based on the git/SHA-1 story. To stay in this example: If someone is claiming SHA-1 is faster for them, I'd expect to document what other algorithms they tested, what the numbers were, why better things were unavailable. A future maintainer can check if the decision still makes sense based on the comment. Hence the huge comment from the post above. The problem is, I have a few examples that make a lot more sense, but they can't be published here. They depend on local corporate circumstances and pretty obscure knowledge, and would be undecipherable for the HN crowd.