(C++) performance

 

Performance is a measure of how well you program behaves. Often, this is about run time speed.

 

 

 

 

 

Advice

 

• When it comes to performance, don't trust your intuition: measure [1,4]
• Don't assume performance benefits from reserve() without measurements [2]
• When necessary, use reserve() to make performance predictable [3]
• First make it work, then make it fast [4]

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

1. Bjarne Stroustrup. The C++ Programming Language (4th edition). 2013. ISBN: 978-0-321-56384-2. Chapter 31.6. Advice. page 924: '[5] When it comes to performance, don't trust your intuition: measure'
2. Bjarne Stroustrup. The C++ Programming Language (4th edition). 2013. ISBN: 978-0-321-56384-2. Chapter 31.6. Advice. page 924: '[19] Don't assume performance benefits from reserve() without measurements'
3. Bjarne Stroustrup. The C++ Programming Language (4th edition). 2013. ISBN: 978-0-321-56384-2. Chapter 31.6. Advice. page 924: '[22] When necessary, use reserve() to make performance predictable'
4. Bruce Eckel. Thinking in C++, second edition, volume 1. 2000. ISBN: 0-13-979809-9. Chapter B: Programming Guidelines. Item 1: 'First make it work, then make it fast. This is true even if you are certain that a piece of code is really important and that it will be a principal bottleneck in your system. Don’t do it. Get the system going first with as simple a design as possible. Then if it isn’t going fast enough, profile it. You’ll almost always discover that “your” bottleneck isn’t the problem. Save your time for the really important stuff.'