I recently stumbled upon this screenshot while researching social media on the train. Of course, it was followed by a cascade of spiteful comments, criticizing this fresh programmer’s attempt to solve a classical problem in computer science. The modulus operation.
Really makes you question your sanity when optimizing jumps in code without benchmarks.
For a long time I’ve been of the opinion that you should only ever optimize for the next
suckercolleague who might need to read and edit your code. If you ever optimize for speed, it needs to be done with massive benchmarking / profiling support to ensure that the changes you make are worth it. This is especially true with modern compilers / interpreters that try to use clever techniques to optimize your code either on the fly, or before making the executable.The first rule of optimization: Don’t do it
The second rule of optimization: Don’t do it yet (experts only)