Fast Software, the Best Software

Posted by Simon
Jul 30, 2019 at 08:30 AM

The link was great, really enjoyed reading the article.

The fact that speed is important is attested to everyone who purchases a new computer/device, because it has become to “slow” (a relative term). I also wonder whether the increase of higher level languages and frameworks invariably require more processing power in what they produce. The article linked to an interesting debate on Electron apps. It did make me think wider about software in general. The faster, cleaner, and more secure you want your software the more it’s going to cost you. You only need to look at embedded systems in a camera as opposed to an airplane. It could be the reason why people are buying software that does one thing well and ditching software that is feature rich, but slowed by that richness. To make an app do one thing well with speed is less of a problem than to make a feature rich app that does everything well. I can easily see that the cost could be prohibitive. How much would it cost evernote to totally rewrite their app for every platform rather than patch it up. I can also see why Java is so popular as its code once run everywhere, but the experience tends to be less than pleasant in my experience.

In the end software; as in every other area of life; is driven by cost and profit. We no longer live in a world where people in general are proud of their work.