3 ms·

There is only cache to consider! ;-) Other than cache, there are plenty of tricks that can cure a lot of other ills, but cache is precious.

by cbsmith 12y ago

dllthomas 12y ago
If you are paging, fixing that is a win on the order of fitting things in cache.
- cbsmith 12y ago
  Sure, but that's really just another form of "cache". Before you hit that, you generally get TLB stress on top of the cache line stress, so you're already hosted. I have to say though, I've not seen too many cases where paging was caused by bloated object code size (lots of cases where it was caused by brutal bloat due to just outright bad code). There was a time a couple of decades ago where it was a common issue with C++, but since then RAM has gotten a lot cheaper and C++ compilers/linkers have become much smarter (not to mention all compilers/linkers getting much smarter about code size). Sure, you can find pain points, but with a modicum of effort it's really hard to imagine a project really flapping outside the working set size purely due to the compiler/linker refusing to be drink from the water it has been lead to...
  - dllthomas 12y ago
    Well, the original context seemed to more or less be someone saying "You're not really going to be paging anymore..." I suppose a more precise response on my part would have been "there are also other caches to consider", but meaning "processor caches" when saying "cache" with no other modifiers is fairly typical in my experience. Upvoted anyway for precision.
    - cbsmith 12y ago
      I will concede that my "there is _only_ cache to consider" statement was largely tongue in cheek. In all serious though, swapping due to code bloat (as opposed to actual runtime bloat)... I haven't seen that in ages. Caches though... like a samurai with an absurdly sharp blade... they kill you almost every time, and usually you don't even know you're dead.

There is only cache to consider! ;-) Other than cache, there are plenty of tricks that can cure a lot of other ills, but cache is precious.

by cbsmith 12y ago

There is only cache to consider! ;-) Other than cache, there are plenty of tricks that can cure a lot of other ills, but cache is precious.

dllthomas 12y ago

If you are paging, fixing that is a win on the order of fitting things in cache.

cbsmith 12y ago
Sure, but that's really just another form of "cache". Before you hit that, you generally get TLB stress on top of the cache line stress, so you're already hosted. I have to say though, I've not seen too many cases where paging was caused by bloated object code size (lots of cases where it was caused by brutal bloat due to just outright bad code). There was a time a couple of decades ago where it was a common issue with C++, but since then RAM has gotten a lot cheaper and C++ compilers/linkers have become much smarter (not to mention all compilers/linkers getting much smarter about code size). Sure, you can find pain points, but with a modicum of effort it's really hard to imagine a project really flapping outside the working set size purely due to the compiler/linker refusing to be drink from the water it has been lead to...
- dllthomas 12y ago
  Well, the original context seemed to more or less be someone saying "You're not really going to be paging anymore..." I suppose a more precise response on my part would have been "there are also other caches to consider", but meaning "processor caches" when saying "cache" with no other modifiers is fairly typical in my experience. Upvoted anyway for precision.
  - cbsmith 12y ago
    I will concede that my "there is _only_ cache to consider" statement was largely tongue in cheek. In all serious though, swapping due to code bloat (as opposed to actual runtime bloat)... I haven't seen that in ages. Caches though... like a samurai with an absurdly sharp blade... they kill you almost every time, and usually you don't even know you're dead.