Performance optimization is hard because it's fundamentally a brute-force task

Why performance optimization is hard work April 29, 2025 I’m not talking about skill, knowledge, or convincing a world focused on radical acceleration that optimization is necessary. Performance optimization is hard because it’s fundamentally a brute-force task, and there’s nothing you can do about it. This post is a bit of a rant on my frustrations with code optimization. I’ll also try to give actionable advice, which I hope enchants your experience. ComposabilityCertain optimizations can only work together, while others lead to pessimizations when combined. To be an expert means to know what optimization avenues exist; to be a master means to know which ones to choose. I have a post on integer formatting in the works, covering a very particular algorithm design – and I still haven’t finished it because there’s like five different choices to make, I have no idea how they impact each other, and I need to analyze 2 5 variants to claim which one’s the best in conscience. Several of ... Read full article.