Please note that participation in this competition is open to all members. The title reflects the fact that the code used is normally provided by a student as part of their course work.

This item is part of the Dialogue section of C Vu, which is intended to designate it as an item where reader interaction is particularly important. Readers' comments and criticisms of published entries are always welcome.

In the first part of this series, we looked at what it means to optimise code, and saw the cases for and against optimisation. In this article, we'll look at the process of optimisation. We'll see the correct, methodical approach that will lead to solid, worthwhile code optimisations.

This is the second of a two part article describing an experiment carried out during the 2003 ACCU conference. The first part was published in a previous issue of C Vu (15.6, December 2003) and discussed the background to the experiment and some of the applicable characteristics of the subjects taking part; this one, the second, discusses the results of the experiment.

Look at the following code and decide what is wrong with it. When you have done so, decide what it has to do with the previous section in particular and this section of C Vu in general - well actually the whole of your life.

There have been many languages for writing applications, but relatively few foundation platforms which support applications that are written in various different languages. We've had assembler (proprietary), then C (an ISO standard), and now we have the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). The CLI standard is ISO/IEC 23271; the same content is also available online at http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-335.htm.

Files form the raw ingredients of a software system - source files, build files, configuration files, resource files, scripts etc. These files are organised into directories.

“There is more to life than increasing its speed” - Mahatma Gandhi

We live in a fast food culture. Not only must our dinner arrive yesterday, our car should be fast, and our entertainment instant. Our code should also run like lightning. I want my result. And I want it now.

Ironically, writing fast programs takes a long time.

Optimisation is a spectre hanging over software development, as W.A. Wulf observed. “More computing sins are committed in the name of efficiency (without necessarily achieving it) than for any other single reason – including blind stupidity”.

It’s a well-worn subject, with plenty of trite soundbites bounding around, and the same advice being served time and time again. But despite this, a lot of code is still not developed sensibly. Programmers get sidetracked by the lure of efficiency and write bad code in the name of performance.

In these articles we’ll address this. We’ll tread some familiar ground and wander well-worn paths, but look out for some new views on the way. Don’t worry – if the subject’s optimisation it shouldn’t take too long...

To err is human.

Finding fault.

Software architecture

Software evolution or software revolution

A passing comment

What's in a name?

The outer limits

There and Back Again

How long is a piece of string?

Recipe for a program

Software Development: Fantasy, Fiction or Face

Software testing

Defensive Programming