Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by LaminatorX on Sunday March 16 2014, @03:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the premature-optimization-is-the-root-of-all-evil dept.

Subsentient writes:

"I've been writing C for quite some time, but I never followed good conventions I'm afraid, and I never payed much attention to the optimization tricks of the higher C programmers. Sure, I use const when I can, I use the pointer methods for manual string copying, I even use register for all the good that does with modern compilers, but now, I'm trying to write a C-string handling library for personal use, but I need speed, and I really don't want to use inline ASM. So, I am wondering, what would other Soylenters do to write efficient, pure, standards-compliant C?"

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 16 2014, @03:55PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 16 2014, @03:55PM (#17196)

    > "We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil" - Donald Knuth.

    This correlates with some other helpful axioms, though:

    * Don't repeat yourself
    * The best optimization is a more efficient algorithm
    * Don't do more work than necessary, etc.

    So don't spend 90% of your time trying to squeeze out that extra 10% performance, but DO think about efficiency from the beginning of your design.

    I like to refer people to the parable about Shlemiel the Painter [fogcreek.com] to emphasize why good planning is necessary BEFORE you start to code!

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Insightful=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   1