n0dalus wrote:
On 10/22/06, Ivan Gyurdiev ivg231@gmail.com wrote:
Constant is convenient, but if it can't meet all necessary requirements, I wouldn't hesitate to drop the idea - never compromise on design in favor of C optimizations. Tomorrow's hardware will make any non-algorithmic optimizations irrelevant.
While this is true for most things, it shouldn't be applied in all cases. For things like graphics processing, I would say every bit of optimization is worth it, even at the expense of a little design flexibility.
Bah.. excuses for bad design. Constant-time access is important, but you need to index on the right thing - see other mail.
Keep in mind that having everyone in the world constantly upgrading their hardware because of attitudes like this is not sustainable --
Sure it is, my computer at work disagrees w/ you.
a far better future would be where a standard computer is cheaper, needs less power, produces less noise and heat, and just does its job.
Why? Just like you upgrade software to get new features and solve problems, you should upgrade hardware for the same purpose. Some problems are best solved in the hardware, rather than wasting programmers' time. What is it with software developers and old computers ?