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No, that's not true. That may be true if your whole world is making CRUD apps but there is a whole world out there. People use the phrase "pre-mature optimizati

No, that's not true. That may be true if your whole world is making CRUD apps but there is a whole world out there. People use the phrase "pre-mature optimization" as a crunch to not understand how computers work.

paulgb 14y ago
Exactly. If you're building a todo list maybe you can ignore complexity, but if you're working on a data pipeline and you ignore (at least an intuitive sense of) O-notation, it will bit you in the ass.
10098 14y ago
This. I can't comprehend it when people use sort() to find the min/max element instead of a linear scan. And yes, I've seen it happen.
- lucian1900 14y ago
  That's not a particularly bad example, only O(n) vs O(n logn).
philhippus 14y ago
So Donald Knuth was trying to get out of understanding computers, got it.
- Derander 14y ago
  The actual quote reads: "We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil." O(n) vs O(n^2) is not a small efficiency for non-trivial data sets. This is the point that was being made. Many people forget that the quote hinges on the word "small" and then use that as an excuse to disengage their brain when it comes to basic things.
- dinkumthinkum 14y ago
  That's an extremely simplistic, sort of childish response. No one besmirches Donald Knuth. Taking a quote, out of context really, and using it everywhere as some sort of justification, nay, an unthinking reflex, is, indeed, using it as a crutch.
slurgfest 14y ago
People also use the phrase "premature optimization" to make a perfectly accurate observation about eager, costly optimizations which may be obviated by changes or have no meaningful relationship to any business need. Is there really any good reason not to focus optimization on areas it will make a difference, and guide it with actual profiling results?
freework 14y ago
99% of everything is CRUD

paulgb 14y ago

Exactly. If you're building a todo list maybe you can ignore complexity, but if you're working on a data pipeline and you ignore (at least an intuitive sense of) O-notation, it will bit you in the ass.

10098 14y ago

This. I can't comprehend it when people use sort() to find the min/max element instead of a linear scan. And yes, I've seen it happen.

lucian1900 14y ago
That's not a particularly bad example, only O(n) vs O(n logn).

philhippus 14y ago

So Donald Knuth was trying to get out of understanding computers, got it.

Derander 14y ago
The actual quote reads: "We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil." O(n) vs O(n^2) is not a small efficiency for non-trivial data sets. This is the point that was being made. Many people forget that the quote hinges on the word "small" and then use that as an excuse to disengage their brain when it comes to basic things.
dinkumthinkum 14y ago
That's an extremely simplistic, sort of childish response. No one besmirches Donald Knuth. Taking a quote, out of context really, and using it everywhere as some sort of justification, nay, an unthinking reflex, is, indeed, using it as a crutch.

slurgfest 14y ago

People also use the phrase "premature optimization" to make a perfectly accurate observation about eager, costly optimizations which may be obviated by changes or have no meaningful relationship to any business need. Is there really any good reason not to focus optimization on areas it will make a difference, and guide it with actual profiling results?

freework 14y ago

99% of everything is CRUD