There is that moment in video game development when the feature set is locked down and it basically turns into speed and stability optimization. Some people lov

There is that moment in video game development when the feature set is locked down and it basically turns into speed and stability optimization. Some people love it, others hate it. I guess you would get a similar state in some embedded systems. The folks at NASA working on the Mars Rovers have a set target and are usually targeting mid 90's MIPS or PPC processor so they have to be fixated on speed and performance.