Hacker News with Generative AI: Code Optimization

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.
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.
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.
Don't let dicts spoil your code (roman.pt)
How often do your simple prototypes or ad-hoc scripts turn into fully-fledged applications?
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.
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.
Tic-tac-toe in a single call to printf (github.com/carlini)
Lisp with GC in 436 Bytes (justine.lol)
How much of your binary executable is just ASCII text? (lemire.me)
How to implement Retries without Cluttering your Code (cellos.blog)
What are the ways compilers recognize complex patterns? (stackexchange.com)
How short can Git abbreviate? (2013) (cuviper.com)