Concurrent programming requires synchronization. We can’t have more than one thread accessing data at the same time; otherwise, we end up with a data race. The most common solution is to wrap […]
How does a mutex work? What does it cost?
What is the cost of reference counting?
Reference counting is a common form of memory management. In some languages, like Python, it’s the natural way objects are tracked, and in others it’s in the standard library, such as shared_ptr […]
Wait-free queueing and ultra-low latency logging
To support a low-latency trading system I needed a logging call that had minimal impact on the calling thread. It was imperative to be responsive to market events at all times. My […]
Pitfalls of Performance Testing
Beware the casual performance test, it will lie to you. It is simple to write something that gives you timings, but it is difficult to make those timings meaningful. A whole host […]
Can a language be safe?
Some languages hand us sharp knives and encourage us to play with them. Other languages put us in padded rooms and discourage us from doing anything at all. Though it may sound […]
Performance is irrelevant
Asking questions about performance online universally invites scorn and accusation. A large number of programmers apparently feel that the efficiency of code is nowadays insignificant. So long as the functional requirements have […]
How Polymorphism Works: Part 1
Polymorphism: the core of object oriented programming. Most modern languages have some concept of interfaces, virtual functions, and classes. Though each language differs in details, and may have specialized concepts, the core […]
CPU Memory – Why do I need a mutex?
Multi-threaded programming calls for semaphores, synchronized blocks, mutexes, or whatever your language happens to call them. Most of us basically understand why we need them: to prevent multiple-threads from accessing the same […]
The Cost – A Function Call
In the grand scheme of execution costs function calls come very close to the bottom of the list. They don’t cost very much at all — at least not in most compiled […]
The Cost – Instantiation and the hidden enemy “new”
Whether C++, Java or any other language, we are all familiar with instantiating an object. In those aforementioned languages the operator new happens to do just that. Obviously CPUs don’t have any […]
The Cost – Programming Performance and Efficiency
As high level languages become more abstract, and offer more convenience features, it is easy to lose track of what the computer is actually doing. While this may be a great boon […]
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