23 Jan
2001
23 Jan
'01
6:11 p.m.
Johannes Waldmann wrote:
... I'd rather write clear code, than worry about efficiency too early. Who said this, "premature optimization is the root of all evil".
I've always attributed this to Donald Knuth: Premature optimization is the root of all evil in programming. Though I can't confirm it. I do find this similar statement in his "Structured Programming with go to Statements" (Computing Surveys 6 4, Dec 1974): ... premature emphasis on efficiency is a big mistake which may well be the source of most programming complexity and grief. Note also one of Alan Perlis's epigrams: Optimization hinders evolution. (See http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/perlis-alan/quotes.html) - Mark Tullsen