Optimization Memes

Sure, your 1000 lines of C++ run 100x faster than my 10 lines of Python. But while you were writing those thousand lines, I finished the project, had lunch, refactored twice, and still had time to scroll through Reddit. That torch of performance might look impressive, but the real caveman move is spending three weeks micro-optimizing what could've been done in an afternoon. Speed isn't just about execution time—it's about developer time too.

The forbidden C++ time bomb! Some poor developer at Westwood Studios left themselves a nuclear reminder in the Command & Conquer source code. They basically wrote: "This optimization experiment failed spectacularly, but I'm too lazy to remove it right now... if nobody fixes this garbage by 2003, PLEASE NUKE IT." The best part? They're defining NO_USE_BUFFERED_IO and then immediately checking if USE_BUFFERED_IO is defined. It's like building a highway with a "ROAD CLOSED" sign that only appears if you're already driving on it. Somewhere, a developer is still waking up in cold sweats wondering if anyone ever nuked their code. Legacy systems are just ancient burial grounds for our worst decisions.

Writing 1,000 lines of C++ to save 0.4 seconds compared to 10 lines of Python. That's like building a nuclear reactor to toast bread. Sure, your program runs faster, but you spent three weeks debugging memory leaks while the Python dev went home at 5pm. But hey, those microseconds really matter when you're waiting for the coffee machine anyway.