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From the title and this context, I was expecting a how-to about writing (embedded) software that uses less power, but instead it seems to be a rambling essay mo

• MichaelCrawford 11y ago
  While I expect it could be useful for embedded work, that wasn't specifically my intention. I was thinking more of servers. The most straightforward way to save power from software is to reduce cache misses. Consider that there are some common access patterns in which the cache makes your code slower, not faster. One example are large lookup tables, whose elements are significantly smaller than a cache line. Edit: the reason I had servers in mind, is that a friend who operates a Xen VM hosting service told me that his primary cost center is electric power. It's not just that the servers consume power, but that most of that power is converted into heat that the data center where his racks are, have to get rid of by consuming even more power with air conditioners. It is generally cheaper and easier to heat something than to cool it. I learned from "The Only Investment Guide That You'll Ever Need", that due to one's "Marginal Tax Bracket", you're better off saving money than earning more of it.