Comment by atoav

> Rarely in software does anyone ask for “fast.”

As some working on embedded audio DSP code I just had to laugh a little.

Yes, there is a ton of code that has a strict deadline. For audio that may be determined by your buffer size — don't write your samples to that buffer fast enough and you will hear it in potentially destructively loud fashion.

This changes the equation, since faster code now just means you are able to do more within that timeframe on the same hardware. Or you could do the same on cheaper hardware. Either way, it matters.

Similar things apply to shader coding, game engines, control code for electromechanical systems (there, missing the deadline can be even worse).