Hacker News with Generative AI: Code Optimization

Dirty tricks 6502 programmers use (2019) (nurpax.github.io)
This post recaps some of the C64 coding tricks used in my little Commodore 64 coding competition. The competition rules were simple: make a C64 executable (PRG) that draws two lines to form the below image. The objective was to do this in as few bytes as possible.

Programming, Retro Computing, C64, Competition, Code Optimization

161 points by amichail 10 days ago | 61 comments

C++: terser (shorter) lambda == SHORTY (ab-use?) (github.com/hanickadot)
This library is intended to give terser syntax than C++'s lambdas, not replace C++ with lazy DSL.

C++, Programming, Libraries, Syntax, Code Optimization

67 points by signa11 17 days ago | 20 comments

C++26 Expansion Tricks (pydong.org)
P1306 gives us compile time repetition of a statement for each element of a range - what if we instead want the elements as a pack without introducing a new function scope?

C++, Programming Languages, Compilers, Code Optimization, Metaprogramming

4 points by HeliumHydride 35 days ago | 0 comments

Inline Evaluation Adventure (rigsomelight.com)
Inline evaluation has been around for a long time, but not every programmer has had the chance to use it. If you haven’t, this is an opportunity to try it.

Programming, Code Optimization, Software Development

27 points by todsacerdoti 45 days ago | 12 comments

Every line is a potential bug (2009) (teamten.com)
Every line of code you write is a potential bug. Do not write any line of code unless you absolutely need it right now and your program will suffer for the lack of it. Do not write routines speculatively. Do not write abstraction layers you don’t need right now. If an optimization will add any complexity whatsoever, even a subtraction, resist it.

Software Development, Programming, Code Optimization, Software Design

55 points by ingve 61 days ago | 58 comments

Cursed fire or #define black magic (ssloy.github.io)
Have you ever wondered whether it is possible to write fully functional code using only the #define directive in C?

C Programming, Programming Languages, Code Optimization, Computer Science, Hacks

34 points by davikr 65 days ago | 5 comments

Yandex Open-Sources Perforator: Find Code Inefficiencies (phoronix.com)
Internet tech company Yandex announced the open-source release today of Perforator as a tool to help identify and evaluate code inefficiencies at scale.

Open Source, Software Development, Code Optimization, Performance Analysis

8 points by LorenDB 86 days ago | 0 comments

Promising results from DeepSeek R1 for code (simonwillison.net)
ggml : x2 speed for WASM by optimizing SIMD (via) PR by Xuan-Son Nguyen for llama.cpp:

Deep Learning, Code Optimization

979 points by k__ 88 days ago | 746 comments

Finding Missed Code Size Optimizations in Compilers Using LLMs (arxiv.org)
Compilers are complex, and significant effort has been expended on testing them. Techniques such as random program generation and differential testing have proved highly effective and have uncovered thousands of bugs in production compilers. The majority of effort has been expended on validating that a compiler produces correct code for a given input, while less attention has been paid to ensuring that the compiler produces performant code.

Compilers, Code Optimization, Artificial Intelligence

3 points by matt_d 109 days ago | 0 comments

LLMs and Code Optimization (wiredream.com)
Max Woolf recently asked whether repeatedly prompting a large language model (LLM) to "write better code" would make it, well, write better code.

Programming, Code Optimization

172 points by dgacmu 110 days ago | 25 comments

Decomplexifying Curl (haxx.se)
Two contributing factors that make code hard to read are function length and function complexity. To keep source code easy to read, understand and debug we should strive towards keeping functions short and simple. Nothing ground-breaking in that conclusion.

Programming, Code Optimization, Software Development

14 points by lwhsiao 181 days ago | 4 comments

Don't let dicts spoil your code (roman.pt)
How often do your simple prototypes or ad-hoc scripts turn into fully-fledged applications?

Python, Software Development, Code Optimization

197 points by juniperplant 199 days ago | 115 comments

Shadow Workspace: Iterating on Code in the Background (cursor.com)
Hidden Electron windows and kernel-level folder proxies to let AIs iterate on code without affecting the user.

Artificial Intelligence, Software Development, User Experience, Code Optimization

3 points by goranmoomin 225 days ago | 0 comments

On over-engineering; finding the right balance (16elt.com)
A big debate among developers is whether to write code for today’s problem or to build a general-purpose solution for future needs. Both approaches have their pros and cons. Specific-purpose code can quickly become messy. But overly general code can add unnecessary complexity. This post, obviously opinionated, argues for a middle ground. That’s the sweet spot, as always.

Software Development, Code Optimization, Best Practices

92 points by BerislavLopac 228 days ago | 64 comments

Tic-tac-toe in a single call to printf (github.com/carlini)

Programming, Code Optimization, C Programming

5 points by fzliu 264 days ago | 1 comments

Lisp with GC in 436 Bytes (justine.lol)

Lisp, Programming Languages, Code Optimization, Minimalism

173 points by behnamoh 267 days ago | 24 comments

How much of your binary executable is just ASCII text? (lemire.me)

Software, Programming, Computer Science, Code Optimization, Binary Files

7 points by NavinF 273 days ago | 1 comments

How to implement Retries without Cluttering your Code (cellos.blog)