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Ask Slashdot: What's the Most Often-Run Piece of Code -- Ever?

Posted by Soulskill on from the and-how-quickly-could-EC2-win-the-crown dept.

Hugo Villeneuve writes "What piece of code, in a non-assembler format, has been run the most often, ever, on this planet? By 'most often,' I mean the highest number of executions, regardless of CPU type. For the code in question, let's set a lower limit of 3 consecutive lines. For example, is it:
  • A UNIX kernel context switch?
  • A SHA2 algorithm for Bitcoin mining on an ASIC?
  • A scientific calculation running on a supercomputer?
  • A 'for-loop' inside on an obscure microcontroller that runs on all GE appliance since the '60s?"

5 of 533 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory by fisted · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Every Ask Slashdot gets a comment pointing out that it's the dumbest Ask Slashdot ever, I know.

    This time, it's really, really the case.

    --
    CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
    1. Re:Obligatory by Workaphobia · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I disagree. This may be the superlative of something, but I don't think "dumb" is it.

      I actually think it's an interesting thought experiment. It immediately forces the reader to think about how pieces of code are used in the real world, both within and beyond their intended application. But it is also likely impossible to settle to anyone's satisfaction. I would trust a proposed answer to this question even less than I would an answer to "What was the size of the internet at the time of the Morris worm", or "How many lines of C code are there in existence".

      Just because something's hard to measure doesn't make it dumb, though.

      --
      Evidently, the key to understanding recursion is to begin by understanding recursion. The rest is easy.
    2. Re:Obligatory by d33tah · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Personally I think that the biggest problem with Slashdot is the abundance of comments like this. Seriously, it might not meet your standards. I understand. Now get over it and stop wasting my time writing it for the thousandth time or actually submit an article that raises the bar. Whining is not really going to change anything. Sorry, but I really had to.

  2. Solved. Next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Question: What piece of code, in a non-assembler format, has been run the most often, ever, on this planet? By 'most often,' I mean the highest number of executions, regardless of CPU type.

    Answer: Genetic code.

  3. Re: For / While in C by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Perhaps a pixel shader in a modern video game on console or PC, executed per pixel at HD resolution, and for hours (average play time) on tens of millions of machines?

    Could be approaching 10^20 executions.