about main()

[Calvin Spealman]

On Thu, Jul 5, 2018 at 1:41 PM, Jim Lee <jlee54 at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On 07/05/18 10:15, Calvin Spealman wrote:
>
> On Thu, Jul 5, 2018 at 12:59 PM, Jim Lee <jlee54 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On 07/05/18 05:14, Marko Rauhamaa wrote:
>>
>>> Abdur-Rahmaan Janhangeer <arj.python at gmail.com>:
>>>
>>>> * Create as many functions as you can
>>>>>
>>>> performance?
>>>>
>>> Python?
>>>
>>> Seriously, though. The principle of expressive encapsulation is one of
>>> the basic cornerstones of writing computer programs. Performance barely
>>> ever becomes a question, and even more rarely has anything to do with
>>> the number of function calls (low-level programming language compilers
>>> optimize efficiently).
>>>
>>> The most important objective of software development is the management
>>> of complexity. Silly performance optimizations are way down the priority
>>> list.
>>>
>>>
>>> Marko
>>>
>>
>> Sadly, this *is* the current mindset.
>>
>> "Don't bother optimizing, the compiler does it better than you can."
>>
>
> I think that is a pretty clear mis-characterization of what was said.
>
>
> Well, you did say "silly performance optimizations".
>

That wasn't me, but I do agree with the sentiment in that its often silly
to focus on them at the wrong time and without constraints that warrant
that focus.

> The mindset isn't that optimization will be done for you, but that it
> isn't high on a priority list.
>
>
> Things at the bottom of a priority list tend to never get done -
> especially in the current era of software development.  And if you rarely
> or never do something, you lose the skill.  The horde of programmers a
> generation or two from now may have no clue how to do these things.  That's
> the pitfall behind "smart tools".
>

You say "pitfall", but I say "allow developers to focus on higher-level
problems and enable developers to specialize among tasks so every single
one of us doesn't have to be a jack of all trades just to build a todo list
app".

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

> Tell me, who writes the compilers?  When we die off, nobody will have a
>> clue how to do it...
>>
>> -Jim
>>
>>
>