Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Repost: Avoid Panicking about Performance

In a recent post, another blogger related how a simple attempt to improve performance nearly spiraled out of control.  The lesson is that always measure and understand your performance problem before attempting any solution.  Now, the very scope of your measurements and understanding can vary depending on the complexity of your solution.  And when your "optimizations" have caused the system to go sideways, it is time to take a careful appraisal of whether to revert or continue.  I have done both, and more often have I wished that I reverted rather than continued.  Afterall, it is better for the code to work slowly rather than not work.

Again, always measure before cutting.

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