Fast Software, the Best Software

Author's point about Google Maps being bloated and slow is 100% true. I use that app every day and I just recalled today when I first started using Google Maps in 2009 on my good old Nokia E63 phone it was fast and so great and then since last few years the app's design keep changing (at least on Android) and it is hard to keep up with these design changes and worst of all...every design change makes the app…

> But why is slow bad? Fast software is not always good software, but slow software is rarely able to rise to greatness. Fast software gives the user a chance to “meld” with its toolset. That is, not break flow. When the nerds upon Nerd Hill fight to the death over Vi and Emacs, it’s partly because they have such a strong affinity for the flow of the application and its meldiness. They have invested. The Tool Is Good, so…

Speed has a moral dimension: to be fast is to be in tune with the facts of the world as it truly is, as the Atman has provided, without illusion. Speed has a social dimension: to make the user wait unnecessarily is to express disrespect, even contempt. Speed has an architectural dimension: to be fast, the operations have to match the parts of the system and their relationships. Speed has a spiritual dimension: to achieve speed demands that you humble…

Fast is good. Reliable is better. Functionality is king. Doesn't matter how fast it runs if I'm expecting it to crash out any time. Think of a game which gets 200fps but is unstable vs 120fps, but stable. Give me reliable functionality any day. If it's fast, that would be nice too.