My bigger hope (for apple ecosystem) is that macbook neo forces apple to optimize. Devs don't have that scale.
Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
141–150 of 264 posts
Re: Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree. Engineers choose the technical stack based on the specs. With LLMs, it's faster to ship even in a more verbose language like Go or Rust.
I have never worked for a company where the engineers choose the technical stack. It’s always the architect, the CTO or the mother company that decides what technology to choose. Could be a German/Dutch cultural thing though.
Depends on a type of company, I work at a mid-sized startup and through lifecycle of this company there were times when we've had architects and there were times when we haven't. Rn we don't have and a lot of decisions is made within teams and we just try to keep communication about what's needed for business tight
Re: Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
#143Some programmers will write more efficient code. At my $dayjob (one of the big tech companies) we're already planning a major goal next year of optimizing server code to reduce RAM requirements, and this is directly in response to the crunch. In practice I expect most optimizations will come from "stop doing stupid stuff" and not "use fancy advanced algorithms." But that's a cynical perspective so don't be cynical li…
The key word here is “server”. Optimizing memory server-side directly translates to cost savings for companies. There is a lot less incentive to optimize memory for code that runs on the user’s computer.
There's plenty of incentive if it causes your users to churn.
Re: Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
#144Some programmers will write more efficient code. At my $dayjob (one of the big tech companies) we're already planning a major goal next year of optimizing server code to reduce RAM requirements, and this is directly in response to the crunch. In practice I expect most optimizations will come from "stop doing stupid stuff" and not "use fancy advanced algorithms." But that's a cynical perspective so don't be cynical li…
The key word here is “server”. Optimizing memory server-side directly translates to cost savings for companies. There is a lot less incentive to optimize memory for code that runs on the user’s computer.
That's a clever observation and is very true. Development time tho historically was also very expensive hence push for easy to work with dev stacks such as js
Re: Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Specs are business requirements. Choosing a programming language is not a business requirement; it's a technical one.
The programming language can have definite business impacts. It can impact hiring, salary costs (if the skill is rare), ramp-up costs (if it needs to be taught), etc. Even bus-factor comes into it.
Software engineering is an important skill to recruit for. Too many times I see "Java Developer"... Like, do they only know Java and are absolutely incompetent when it comes to something else?
I don't even want to recruit or be recruited with such a title.
Re: Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
#146Programmers will write more efficient algorithms if their employers tell them to trade time-to-market for hardware cost. Previously, it was trade hardware cost for time-to-market. "Programmers" don't make this decision, the product owner does.
I disagree. Engineers choose the technical stack based on the specs. With LLMs, it's faster to ship even in a more verbose language like Go or Rust.
The language doesn't matter much if you have memory-hungry workloads. Whether it's Rust or C or C#, you can write quite memory efficient code in either.
Re: Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
#147Backwards thinking programmers might (there is currently plenty of memory efficient software; but it's always missing that feature you really need funny how that works). Forward thinking ones will realize we are heading towards the glut of all gluts and buy 4TB to play around with.
Re: Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
#148Some programmers will write more efficient code. At my $dayjob (one of the big tech companies) we're already planning a major goal next year of optimizing server code to reduce RAM requirements, and this is directly in response to the crunch. In practice I expect most optimizations will come from "stop doing stupid stuff" and not "use fancy advanced algorithms." But that's a cynical perspective so don't be cynical li…
The key word here is “server”. Optimizing memory server-side directly translates to cost savings for companies. There is a lot less incentive to optimize memory for code that runs on the user’s computer.
> Optimizing memory server-side directly translates to cost savings for companies.
Re: Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
#149Programmers will write more efficient algorithms if their employers tell them to trade time-to-market for hardware cost. Previously, it was trade hardware cost for time-to-market. "Programmers" don't make this decision, the product owner does.
> trade time-to-market for hardware cost
Enh. I think this only exists for some programmers, who can't write good code fast.
Re: Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honestly, after years of seeing this play out, a lot of devs really lack the judgement to know when something is good enough to deliver and will endlessly delay projects to “ do the right thing”
Absolutely. It’s one of the defining characteristics of what makes someone a capable senior in the role IMO. I have known a lot of extremely talented developers, some with more technical skill than me, that simply failed at their job because they couldn’t come to terms with the fact that their job isn’t to produce the most perfect code possible for the problem.
In my experience, I have only developed internal enterprise software for my entire career. Most of this stuff is gloried CRUD. Above all: Ship early and ship often. You don't get paid more for having less bugs. (Of course, don't ship crap, but you don't need perfection.) Also, often the specs (in my line of business) are unwritten, so you learn more by releasing quickly, then watching (internal) customers use the product and provide feedback.