It boils down to common sense. My approach is to try to writing the code reasonably efficient, but initially, readability, maintainability and simplicity take p

It boils down to common sense. My approach is to try to writing the code reasonably efficient, but initially, readability, maintainability and simplicity take precedence over performance. I wouldn't write a more hacky or complex code just for the sake of performance before I KNOW there's a problem.