That last one misrepresents the complaints about premature optimization. It isn't the algorithm choice that is premature, but, say, the difference between using

That last one misrepresents the complaints about premature optimization. It isn't the algorithm choice that is premature, but, say, the difference between using an std::string or char*. That difference doesn't really matter unless it's part of a bottleneck of a developed system. But the O(bottleneck-function) is determined by the algorithm choice, which isn't premature to plan before starting coding. I peeked into the ANSI Common Lisp chapter on optimization, which I think starts out by saying "optimization starts on the algorithmic level". I couldn't agree more.