Refterm Lecture Part 1 - Philosophies of Optimization

Caption notes

In the first Refterm lecture, Casey Muratori distinguishes three approaches to performance. One estimates how much work the hardware can do, then uses benchmarks and performance data to investigate the gap between the estimate and actual results. Another avoids needless work when writing the code, for example by asking whether a copy is necessary. The third applies measurements from elsewhere directly to the current code. He uses arrays and linked lists to show how results depend on layout and usage. Muratori puts most of his Refterm decisions in the second category and mentions one path that he timed and adjusted separately. This guide follows his engineering choices and judgments. It does not reproduce the performance comparison, and the detailed renderer implementation is left to later installments.