I think the Optimization course by Prof. Jacco is a nice start https://web.archive.org/web/20230924064410/https://www.cs.uu.nl/docs/vakken/mov/ https://web.arch

I think the Optimization course by Prof. Jacco is a nice start https://web.archive.org/web/20230924064410/https://www.cs.uu.nl/docs/vakken/mov/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230924064410/https://www.cs.uu... (sadly the website seems to be currently down). Basically you need a mental framework to approach optimizing software (else you might just be spinning around wasting time). I recommend reading at least lecture 1 and looking at the references on the website. As for specific optimizations, it requires context of what software are you trying to optimize and under what circumstances. A lot of the times you are going to see that the answer to asking if certain optimizations are worth the effort is going to be 'it depends'