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<H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: processors </LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: Marc Hernandez <<A HREF="mailto:marc#ias,jb.com">marc#ias,jb.com</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 00:08:01 -0800 (PST)</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
J C Lawrence wrote:
On Sat, 30 Jan 1999 19:00:11 -0800 (PST) diablo <diablo#best,com> wrote:
> J C Lawrence wrote:
> > Could someone like yourself, or someone similarly erudite about such
> > matters speed things up by recoding? Probably, but there's a lot of
> > code, and probably a _lot_ that needs doing. We'll certainly try to
> > do it, but we will also be buying the fastest processor we can
> > afford. I know it goes against the programmers ethic to dismiss a
> > problem by saying "buy more memory" or "buy a new processor" but
> > I've committed worse sins I suppose (though my new coder starts
> > foaming at the mouth everytime I suggest it. I'm a little frightened
> > that upgrading instead of optimizing will kill him.)
>
> There's a balance in there. Given a competent programmer (for
> suitable values of "competent"), and a reasonable choice of algorithm
> and implementation (nothing wonderful required, just "good enough") of
> that algorithm, then yes, faster hardware is almost always the cheaper
> and more rewarding answer. Programmer time is expensive. Hardware is
> cheap. The counter side of course is that lazy, or pseudo-competent
> programmers come to rely on this, get sloppy with algorithm and
> implementation choices, and then try and answer everything with faster
> hardware.
> If the story is correct (passed on by a mate at SGI), in an earlier
> version of IRIX they killed some "unecessary" buffer copies in the
> TCP/IP stack (as I understand it, just a single extra copy per
> packet). Stack performance gained by over 35%.
>
> Tiny change. Huge reaction.
I wanted to mention another thing to keep in mind that was not
mentioned. While more memory and more processor and faster disk access is
good, it can, in general[1] only speed things up linearly, while choosing
better algorithms can speed things up sometimes _much_ better than
linearly.
I always kringe when I read 'Yeah I just used bubble sort because
there will never be more than X[3] and it works great for that'. I read
this with sorting alpha polygons in a 3d engine. What happens when (since
3d hardware is moving so fast) they take their engine, crank up the polys
for a RivaTNT[2] or a VooDoo3 and their performance drops to nothing? Now
they have to dig around old code looking for performance bottlenecks,
checking drivers etc.
Back to writing a NURBS evaluator.
Marc Hernandez
[1] I am sure there are pathelogical cases where this does not hold.
[2] Fast 3d card.
[3] Where x is in the set of positive integers (Z) and is less than 100.
Quicksort is easy to write :-) (and the partition does not have to be the
first item).
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<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> J C Lawrence <claw#kanga,nu></LI></UL></LI>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00329" HREF="msg00329.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#kanga,nu">claw#kanga,nu</a>, Sun 31 Jan 1999, 02:18 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00331" HREF="msg00331.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</A></strong>,
diablo <a href="mailto:diablo#best,com">diablo#best,com</a>, Sun 31 Jan 1999, 03:00 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00336" HREF="msg00336.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</A></strong>,
Mik Clarke <a href="mailto:mikclrk#ibm,net">mikclrk#ibm,net</a>, Sun 31 Jan 1999, 18:50 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00340" HREF="msg00340.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#kanga,nu">claw#kanga,nu</a>, Mon 01 Feb 1999, 06:22 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00341" HREF="msg00341.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</A></strong>,
Marc Hernandez <a href="mailto:marc#ias,jb.com">marc#ias,jb.com</a>, Mon 01 Feb 1999, 07:08 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00344" HREF="msg00344.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</A></strong>,
Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:adam#angel,com">adam#angel,com</a>, Mon 01 Feb 1999, 18:53 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00342" HREF="msg00342.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</A></strong>,
Petri Virkkula <a href="mailto:pvirkkul#iki,fi">pvirkkul#iki,fi</a>, Mon 01 Feb 1999, 07:36 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00338" HREF="msg00338.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</A></strong>,
Greg Underwood <a href="mailto:gunderwood#donet,com">gunderwood#donet,com</a>, Mon 01 Feb 1999, 02:15 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00343" HREF="msg00343.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: processors</A></strong>,
Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:adam#angel,com">adam#angel,com</a>, Mon 01 Feb 1999, 18:38 GMT
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