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Hardware Is Cheap, Programmers Are Expensive

Posted by Soulskill on from the optimization-takes-effort dept.

Sportsqs points out a story at Coding Horror which begins: "Given the rapid advance of Moore's Law, when does it make sense to throw hardware at a programming problem? As a general rule, I'd say almost always. Consider the average programmer salary here in the US. You probably have several of these programmer guys or gals on staff. I can't speak to how much your servers may cost, or how many of them you may need. Or, maybe you don't need any — perhaps all your code executes on your users' hardware, which is an entirely different scenario. Obviously, situations vary. But even the most rudimentary math will tell you that it'd take a massive hardware outlay to equal the yearly costs of even a modest five person programming team."

5 of 465 comments (clear)

  1. Re:But who's going to fly it? by tinkertim · · Score: 5, Funny

    "10,000! We could almost buy our own ship for that!" "Yeah, but who's going to fly it kid? You?"

    Typical Management Response:
    "You bet I could!, I'm not such a bad programmer myself!"

  2. Re:Frist? by couchslug · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Natalie Portman can't act for shit and she has the tits of an 11-year old girl. Grits are bland and best served to the inbred, down-syndrome-afflicted inhabitants of the Southern United States."

    OK, OK, ya got me horny, hungry, and nostalgic for the folks back home, but what was your point?

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  3. First Java Post? by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny

    When developers ask for a new monitor or dual monitors, let them have 'em but mandate that the monitors be in a vertical orientation [about.com]as opposed to the typical horizontal orientation. That way, they'll have to use the monitors for efficient viewing of code rather than watching movies all day long. It's such a simple idea that I'm surprised that more businesses and coders haven't caught on to it.

    Who will be the first to post "ICodeInJavaWithClassesWithReallyReallyReallyLongNames.youIgnorantClod();" ?

    1. Re:First Java Post? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 4, Funny

      std::i_code_in_cpp_with_crptc_cls_names::you_insns_clod();

  4. Re:programmers save lifetimes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Someone evil (like me) may ponder the other side of that. If I can *put* another 5 seconds on the boot time then I can effectively kill 50 people and get away with it. But then I'm a bastard.