I think the thing that gets forgotten when people talk about premature optimisation being evil is that premature pessimism is just as evil, and being sloppy is

I think the thing that gets forgotten when people talk about premature optimisation being evil is that premature pessimism is just as evil, and being sloppy is just being sloppy. All things being equal, you should always choose the optimally performing solution. This does not have to come at the expense of correctness or readable coding style. Often when the premature optimisation line is touted it's just an excuse for poor design.