"Clean" Code, Horrible Performance

1. Single-thread performance This is hardly related to HPC. The closest thing maybe code optimization and competitive programming. First learn how to do anything fast in single process, then think about scale it up later. 2. Parallel programming Learn MPI. Specifically mpi4py. Once you go MPI, you never use python's multiprocessing module (it sucks). But stuffs are mostly about solving linear algebra problems, which I am not that interested in. 4. Distributed Computing Related to MPI. But nowaday distributed GPU computing become a thing, thing that I can think of is Dask. Don't know how to use that. link 5. Quantum Computing Completely unrelated to HPC, at least in the near future (10 to 30 years). Areas that is the most active in this field is molecular computation. If you don't have a phy/chem PHD, you are not able to read anything beyond college level stuff in this field. And those are only basics stuff like elementary schools' arithmetics. But write your own program to solve those quantum problems in classical computers is interesting, because people there only think about problems that cause scaling issue, not the others. That's why some may think that quantum computer is a replacement of supercomputers. If you can find ways and invent techniques that can reduce timecomplexity in terms of classical algorithm, you are welcome. And literally there is a lot of room for anyone because every quantum computer emulator is unoptimized and slow as hell. Google, Microsoft, IBM,

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. > Well it's hard to argue about that tradeoff in general, but I think the existence of languages like Python, Ruby and PHP is compelling. Though I'd accept the argument that they help optimise for neither performance nor changeability! I see the point you're making, and I don't disagree with it. But I should be a bit more clear in what I really meant in my parent comment: Given whatever language a developer is working in, whether it is fast like C++ or a slow language like Python (or perhaps even Minecraft Redstone), I think the programmer that takes a data oriented approach (meaning they write their code thinking about the kinds of data the program can receive and the kind it will likely receive, along with what operations will be the most expensive) will have better code than a programmer that makes a nice object model following all the SOLID principles. The majority of the OOP code I've worked with spends too much time caring about abstractions and encapsulation that performance is lost and the code is no better to work with. > Regarding the DOD/OOP wars, I really love this article, which argues that OOP doesn't have to be bad[1]. I also think that when performance is a requirement, you just have to get more particular about your use of OOP. For example, the difference between Mesh and InstancedMesh[2] in THREE.js. Both are OOP, but have very different performance implications. Absolutely agree here. Classic gamedev.net article. ECS != DOD

See for example this playlist of videos of his with some videos from 2021 where he implements a terminal emulator. As he says himself, this project is not so much about terminals as it is about software development practices in general. link See also this video of his: “Clean” Code, Horrible Performance this video

bugs* ironic It depends on whether you approach programming from a perspective of writing piles of obviously correct abstraction layers (the total effect of which is to leak so much the solution ends up being wrong anyway), or from the direct unabstracted perspective of actually making the computer do what you want it to do (which does not preclude the solution from using abstractions). I call them the Uncle Bob vs Casey Muratori school, after Casey's lectures such as "Clean Code, Horrible Performance": this video

Another commentor succinctly pointed out one argument against RAII+friends is that it encourages thinking about single objects, as opposed to bulk processing. In many contexts, the common case is in fact bulk processing, and programming things with the assumption that everything is a single, discrete element creates several problems, mostly wrt. performance, but also maintainability. [1][2] > The whole point of an arena allocator is the exact opposite of RAII Yes, agreed. And the internet is rife with people yelling about just how great RAII is, but comparatively few people have written specifically about it's failings, and alternatives, which is what I'm asking about today. [1] this video [2] link