Performance Measurement
The most important aspect of optimization is the measurement of code execution time. Unless we measure our application's performance with a wide range of input datasets, we will have no clue as to which part takes the most time and, our optimization efforts will be shot in the dark, with no guarantee of a result. There are several approaches for measurement, and some of them are listed here:
- Runtime instrumentation or profiling
- Source code instrumentation
- Manual execution timing
- Studying generated assembly code
- Manual estimation by studying the code and algorithms used
The preceding list is ordered in terms of how accurate the measurement is (with the most accurate one first). However, each of these methods has different advantages. The choice of which approach to adopt depends on the goals and scope of the optimization effort. In an all-out effort to get the fastest possible implementation, all of these may be required. We will examine...
