>Tore,
>
>>Please pardon me for jumping in. This is not a remark to you, but to everyone who has contributed to this thread.
>>
>>I am totally amazed about the energy someone can use to save a few nanoseconds. How many thousand years must you use your applications to earn back the amount of time you have spent on this extremely important optimizing problem? <vbg>
>
>Oh I agree wholeheartedly. In actual apps one has to temper the amount of time spent optimizing code vs. the amount of time it takes to do the optimization vs. the amount of time it will save the endusers over the lifetime of the app.

df,

Steve McConnell, as you probably know, stated that the greatest benefits come from re-fining the top-level design, not by micro-optimizing individual routines or lines. He also stated that in the vast majority of systems, performance isn't critical.

In those situations where it is, it won't be known until the application is done, which indicates an inadequancy of the top-level design. It's at this point where micro-optimization can play a significant role.