Performance Matters
hillelwayne.com
Performance Matters
1–10 of 141 posts
Re: Performance Matters
#2I use to use Amiga computers, I presently use Haiku - i am not trying to say those are the best OSes. But when I use Windows I am surprise how slow some functions are.
Worse, I can use two different programs in Windows and one will be dog-slow compared to the other.
I blame the use of pre-written libraries that in turn call more libraries that in turn call still more. There was a site on Windows bloat-ware, there were for example programs having multiple version of the same library link into the code even while the program only used one library ever.
Also the screen layout is runned thru a layout program/library that slows things down, the layout system is great when you are designing the system, but once you reach the point of final and fixed design there are faster ways to display it.
on the other hand, management is too often cheap, and says "It works, don't it?" and do not want to pay for the extra coding that would make so much faster.
Re: Performance Matters
#3> Something like a quarter-second lag when you opened a dropdown or clicked a button
So the title would more accurately be "UI responsiveness matters"? I doubt anyone would think this kind of lag doesn't matter. It sounds like the software was designed (and tested) for better hardware than it is running on, or at least different hardware. But that's just a guess.
Re: Performance Matters
#4I use to use Amiga computers, I presently use Haiku - i am not trying to say those are the best OSes. But when I use Windows I am surprise how slow some functions are. Worse, I can use two different programs in Windows and one will be dog-slow compared to the other. I blame the use of pre-written libraries that in turn call more libraries that in turn call still more. There was a site on Windows bloat-ware, there wer…
Almost all of this stuff is caused by doing blocking IO on the UI thread. Unfortunately that becomes harder and harder to avoid doing by accident. And if part of the UI code or data gets paged out, there's a colossal hit to responsiveness.
Re: Performance Matters
#5I use to use Amiga computers, I presently use Haiku - i am not trying to say those are the best OSes. But when I use Windows I am surprise how slow some functions are. Worse, I can use two different programs in Windows and one will be dog-slow compared to the other. I blame the use of pre-written libraries that in turn call more libraries that in turn call still more. There was a site on Windows bloat-ware, there wer…
At least at my work, the issue is twofold.
First, nobody measures performance. If they do, it is often done poorly (without using performance tools)
Second, when performance is a problem, everyone guesses on the cause. Remember how they don't measure? Well, they also will say things like "this is probably slow because of X" where X is the database, the network, a method they hate, etc.
Performance analysis requires accurate measurement.
Re: Performance Matters
#6I believe performance does matter and should factor into the design of a system. There is an ISO guidelines on software system requirements and specifications that has a section for performance requirements. It does matter even for banal, non-critical or non-life-threatening software systems.
Another often-overlooked requirement: environment. Does the human using your software system have to pay attention to more important situations around them? Is the environment they're using your software in noisy, stressful, dangerous or dirty? Should you expect frequent wireless interference or degraded wireless performance?
Reading the ISO specs are pretty boring, so is the SWEBOK guide, but it's rather interesting to think about software in terms of the whole system and not as an artifact unto itself.
Re: Performance Matters
#7> Something like a quarter-second lag when you opened a dropdown or clicked a button So the title would more accurately be "UI responsiveness matters"? I doubt anyone would think this kind of lag doesn't matter. It sounds like the software was designed (and tested) for better hardware than it is running on, or at least different hardware. But that's just a guess.
Genuinely curious, what is the difference between performance and responsiveness in this context, and why would it be better as "responsiveness"?
Re: Performance Matters
#8> Something like a quarter-second lag when you opened a dropdown or clicked a button So the title would more accurately be "UI responsiveness matters"? I doubt anyone would think this kind of lag doesn't matter. It sounds like the software was designed (and tested) for better hardware than it is running on, or at least different hardware. But that's just a guess.
Genuinely curious, what is the difference between performance and responsiveness in this context, and why would it be better as "responsiveness"?
Because that's literally the complaint as given. If the UI had reacted "instantly" it would be more user friendly. Even if the performance of the (non UI) code was slower.
EDIT: Or to put it another way: "perceived performance can be more important than actual performance".
Re: Performance Matters
#9> Something like a quarter-second lag when you opened a dropdown or clicked a button So the title would more accurately be "UI responsiveness matters"? I doubt anyone would think this kind of lag doesn't matter. It sounds like the software was designed (and tested) for better hardware than it is running on, or at least different hardware. But that's just a guess.
Genuinely curious, what is the difference between performance and responsiveness in this context, and why would it be better as "responsiveness"?
My take is that responsiveness has a cap of speed that’s pinned to human perception. Once you get here you can stop worrying about needing more.
Performance does work as fast as possible regardless. You always want more but you’re capped by the system, hardware, and algorithms and not human perception.
Feels like I’m splitting hairs though
Re: Performance Matters
#10As a former EMT and someone who built their own software to create run reports, I'm a bit skeptical as to that being the only reason.
Paper can be edited, even after the point at which you given a carbon copy to a hospital, if you're friendly enough. This probably doesn't happen often or at all but there is a psychological safety there.
People make small mistakes all the time on the ambulance in the rush to get them to the ER. We live in an extremely litigious society.