Optimisation

Optimisation has become a dirty word. I have even been chastised for thinking about which of two equally easy and easy-to-maintain ways of doing something is more efficient. The problem is premature optimisation, not optimisation itself. The problem is about trading off ease of maintenance with speed. When the fast code is also the simplest and easiest to maintain, you are an idiot to avoid it, at any stage.

~ Roedy (1948-02-04 age:70)