4 ms·

Counterexample: "Find all prime factors of N".

• coldtea 3y ago
  I think you too take "solve an easy problem as quickly as possible" as meaning finding the fastest performing solution to the problem. I don't think that's what the author means. Thought TFA is a little vague about this: "Instead, I learned it was possible—and fun—to optimize on other dimensions, or play a different game. Rather than competing for an A+ on a hard problem, I could try to solve an easy problem as quickly as possible (like Wave’s accounting), or find the easiest problem whose solution would be useful (like identifying Kenyan names), or hire a team to solve easy problems faster than I ever could myself". To me "solve an easy problem as quickly as possible" doesn't imply "fast" as in program performance, but as delivery time. And this is further corroborated by line "hire a team to solve easy problems faster than I ever could myself".
  • n4r9 3y ago
    You're right, I misunderstood. Thanks for the gentle clarification.