4 ms·
> the notion that programmer's time is more expensive than machine time I do this computation each time I want to code something: time_to_develop + time_to_opt
by wiz21c 3y ago
> the notion that programmer's time is more expensive than machine time
I do this computation each time I want to code something: time_to_develop + time_to_optimize + time_running and get the solution that minimizes that. Most of the time the optimize part is not worth it (although it'd be so much funnier to do it).
- vladvasiliu 3y agoI thin it's important to think about the context of "machine time". If "machine time" is some computer somewhere that only runs your code, then sure. Even as a customer, it might be cheaper to just pay more for a beefier machine than to pay more for optimizing the software. But when you're building human user-facing apps, you can't always just get a faster computer. As others have said, many instances of lag in windows can be traced to network calls. A 64-core monster would probably wait around just as long as my ultra-low voltage, several year-old lazy ultrabook.
- gbin 3y agoYou should work in the gaming industry or robotics where if time_running > some constant you have no product.
- wiz21c 3y agoI happen to work in the computational fluid dynamics department and I happen to have coded in the video game industry (optimized 3D engines). So I do know when optimizing is necessary. It's just that most of the time, for my computation, just waiting a few hours for a one-shot computation is much more effcient than spending 2 days optimizing it so that it runs in 20 minutes. But I admit my parent message was not quite clear on the context in which I was thinking :-)