>So a clever programmer will always be able to boost performance more than a compiler. I believe the term you're looking for there is "a sufficiently-clever pr

>So a clever programmer will always be able to boost performance more than a compiler. I believe the term you're looking for there is "a sufficiently-clever programmer" :) Arguably one is more likely to exist than a sufficiently-clever compiler, but it's exactly the same claim. Even the best humans will have sub-optimal edge cases just like compilers. Given perfect information, sure, I'll agree humans can do better. But it's probably impossible to have (much less make use of) perfect information.