> No. My opinion is that if it's slow you need to check to see if it's actually a problem for the users first before optimizing.
Not only. Think of all these seconds of computing time, translated into watts, translated into coal or whatever pollution from electricity production, multiplied by the number of users your program has.
I think programmers should also consider the environment, even if it'd have more impact if everyone started by just not owning a car.
Unless we're talking about optimizing stuff that actually takes 100% of the CPU's or graphics card's power, it'd have more impact if just one person started not owning a car. Or even merely used it a bit less.
Appreciate the sentiment but it's not going to achieve anything. "Tut-tut" attitude is a lot less efficient than simply showing people why it's worth optimizing for their own sake. If it's worth optimizing at all, that is - GP's point is that it's not always worth it. Optimization has a cost. Development cost and maintenance cost. What's the point of making a program faster if nobody can ever really work on that piece of the code again?
By the way, the hour the programmer stays in the office overtime to optimize that code, using computers and lights and other machines, probably damages the environment more than your example before...
> By the way, the hour the programmer stays in the office overtime to optimize that code, using computers and lights and other machines, probably damages the environment more than your example before...
What if we're talking about the file-copy API in some widely distributed operating system? That's going to be multiplied by millions and millions of people, and therefore, being an obtuse devil's advocate, i argue that indeed it would have an appreciable impact on the environment.
If, however, you're talking about some relatively infrequently used GUI element in an application which has merely a million users, then okay, indeed, go home and don't waste another hour of lights and computers at your office :).
Not only. Think of all these seconds of computing time, translated into watts, translated into coal or whatever pollution from electricity production, multiplied by the number of users your program has.
I think programmers should also consider the environment, even if it'd have more impact if everyone started by just not owning a car.