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When to Tune? (cont)

Examples:
  • a quick C/Perl program to process some numbers
    • why bother tuning? you'll use it once and throw it away.
  • a C/Perl program that you write in a Prac Exam
    • why bother tuning? the main aim is to make it work.
  • a CGI script to collect feedback on a course
    • not worth tuning? observed slowness is probably network latency
More examples (in all of these, performance is critical):
  • a Web search engine e.g. Google (or Yahoo, Alta Vista, ...)
    • extremely large data; millions of people use it daily
  • a Unix filter like grep or sort or perl
    • millions of people use it hundreds of times each day.
  • a library function like sqrt or printf or malloc
    • millions of programs use it millions of times each day.