“Clean” code, horrible performance
I think the post invites a question to all the HN responders:
What would it take for the computer [software] you are using to run at its full blazing potential?The answer is - if every single piece of software was written while already knowing the true requirements, the scope of its use and re-use, and knowing the future bugs and security flaws that would appear, then it could be written one time and be BLAZING FAST.Many parts would still be written in a 'Clean code' style for the necessary extensibility and testability, etc. But many others would be small and near optimal.THEN on top of that, if the author or an equivalent talent came along and rewrote or supervised the optimization of the regular software, similar to how the article does, your system would be HYPER INSANE BLAZING FAST.If we are proponents of OOP or Clean code, we need to acknowledge that fact. (i.e. My code may not be important but it all contributes to slowing down the computing world).
And if we think the Author is preaching gospel here, you should also acknowledge that because the future is so often unknown when we write code we often have no choice but to fill it with Clean code that can be easily changed later, and sometimes even 'Shit code' that we thought would never be used by anyone.