Locally optimizing easily measured code metrics does not produce global optimums, and the fewer people look at the output, the less that matters.

Added to korrents 11 Sept 2026 · How quotes work · Something wrong? Tell us

Shared subject first, then similar wording. They may agree or disagree.

• Optimization means measuring the gap between your code and what the hardware could theoretically do, not making changes and checking whether the statistics improved. CMCasey Muratori26 Aug 2026
• Large language models are better at producing locally optimal code than at generating big architectural ideas. SSSalvatore Sanfilippo13 Jul 2026
• Lines of code cannot measure productivity, because better-designed code is shorter. MFMartin Fowler29 Aug 2003
• Optimising a single metric is a trap, because the second-order consequences of the change only surface much later. BGBill Gurley9 Jun 2026
• "Optimize it later" would be safe advice only if every engineer already knew how to avoid the architectural mistakes that no later optimization can remove. CMCasey Muratori26 Aug 2026

See this claim on the map