comment on

I don't think approaching "quantum levels of computing" has anything to do with it. Yes, processors are getting smaller, but I don't think that's the problem the orginal poster is hitting.

It's not just that CPU manufacturers are approaching sizes of a single atom, but the way the processor works is no longer easily determined. IIRC, Intel gave up publishing op code timings back with the PII 400--the timings fluxuated so much between runs that there was no point.

Branch prediction, piplining, and now hyperthreading basically make processors into run-time code optimizers. I've studied some hand-optimized ASM compared to the output of GCC, and while the hand-optimized can shave off an instruction or two, it will suffer more if the processor makes a branch misprediction.

So all in all, its better if programmers leave that stuff alone if we can get away with it.

----
I wanted to explore how Perl's closures can be manipulated, and ended up creating an object system by accident.
-- Schemer

Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated

In reply to Re: Re: Optimizing into the Weird Zone by hardburn
in thread Optimizing into the Weird Zone by dws

Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:
<code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>
Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.


Perl Monk, Perl Meditation
	PerlMonks