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Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

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21–30 of 177 posts

Re: Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

#21
That's why the thing about "premature optimisation is the root of all evil" is mistaken and wrong in these modern times and yet many people still quote it and take it to heart and as a result don't prioritise speed when building software.

"premature optimisation is the root of all evil" is a saying that came from 1974 when computers were slower, languages were less effective and development processes immature. Today you should make your software fast.

Re: Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

#22
post #7

It seems like this should work the other way too? If you want to break a habit, add a delay. This seems like a good idea for a browser extension. Maybe sometimes you want to undo the work that the website did making things go faster?

I’ve seen this used to good effect with coworkers that habitually ask for help before trying to solve the problem themselves. Instead of ignoring them or complaining that they’re wasting your time, wait to respond for a few minutes so that you’re no longer faster than looking the information up for themselves.

Obviously this only works over some kind of messaging service; face-to-face conversations have significantly different expectations around long pauses.

Re: Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

#23

That's why the thing about "premature optimisation is the root of all evil" is mistaken and wrong in these modern times and yet many people still quote it and take it to heart and as a result don't prioritise speed when building software. "premature optimisation is the root of all evil" is a saying that came from 1974 when computers were slower, languages were less effective and development processes immature. Today…

Wouldn't modern times make it more relevant ? I would choose "don't worry about speed, make it happen first".

Re: Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

#24

That's why the thing about "premature optimisation is the root of all evil" is mistaken and wrong in these modern times and yet many people still quote it and take it to heart and as a result don't prioritise speed when building software. "premature optimisation is the root of all evil" is a saying that came from 1974 when computers were slower, languages were less effective and development processes immature. Today…

Wouldn't modern times make it more relevant ? I would choose "don't worry about speed, make it happen first".

No I think speed is a primary feature, not a secondary one. As the article says, users relate completely differently to a responsive application.

Re: Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

#25
When I do dev stuff with a slight sense of urgency, the probability of my mind wandering somewhere else goes down drastically.

At this mode, my mind uses all available time slots to make the best of them. For example, by the time my program compiles, my brain visualizes possible breakage scenarios and possible solutions, in case the compilation fails.

I could be on confirmation bias here, but this seems to be a neat trick to get more things done.

Re: Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

#27
> But it does mean, push yourself to go faster than you think is healthy

I really disagree with this. Aiming for something you actually think is unhealthy means you either think you should be working unhealthily ( :( ) or you don't trust your measure of healthy (in which case recalibrate that).

Re: Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

#28

Work fast, don't think things through, make mistakes, pay for your haste by spending more time fixing your mistakes than you would have had you thought things through.

Not ideal, but mistakes and experiments seem to be the best way people learn.

Re: Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

#29
post #7

It seems like this should work the other way too? If you want to break a habit, add a delay. This seems like a good idea for a browser extension. Maybe sometimes you want to undo the work that the website did making things go faster?

I really like this idea of a Chrome extension that makes every load on Twitter/Facebook/Hacker News/[your vice goes here] just take something like 0.5s longer. If no one else builds this, I think I will at some point.

Re: Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems (2015)

#30

When I do dev stuff with a slight sense of urgency, the probability of my mind wandering somewhere else goes down drastically. At this mode, my mind uses all available time slots to make the best of them. For example, by the time my program compiles, my brain visualizes possible breakage scenarios and possible solutions, in case the compilation fails. I could be on confirmation bias here, but this seems to be a neat…

Yeah, but could it also increase risk of stress, anxiety, burnout?
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