Don’t we all know this as a fact!! The parts of this article that stands out for me is quoted below. No truer words have been spoken on this subject in a seriously long time
Why is this happening?
So, with all this powerful hardware and clear examples of how to build both fast websites and fast OS components, why is so much modern software such a sluggish, resource-hungry mess? Here I outline a few key reasons:
- The “Consumer as Beta Tester” Model: There’s a strong argument that many large software companies have shifted their primary QA efforts from extensive internal testing to relying on public beta programs (like the Windows Insider Program) and telemetry from live releases. This means features and updates can reach the general public in a less polished state, with users effectively becoming the final line of bug testers. This wasn’t the prevailing model when “Gold” master releases, rigorously tested before shipment, were the norm.
- Focus on Feature Velocity Over Efficiency and Polish: The pressure is often on getting new features shipped yesterday. It’s faster and easier to layer abstractions, pull in heavy libraries, and use resource-hungry frameworks than it is to spend time optimizing performance bottlenecks, writing efficient low-level code, or ensuring rock-solid stability before release.
- Abstraction Overkill: Every layer of abstraction adds overhead. While helpful for managing complexity, the cumulative effect can be a significant performance drain if not carefully managed and optimized.
- Developer Skill & Priorities: Deep optimization is hard. Understanding memory management, threading, efficient algorithms, and compiler outputs is challenging and less common (or perhaps less rewarded in many corporate structures) than knowing how to integrate two APIs or use the latest framework feature.
- Business Models: Ads, telemetry, engagement-tracking features, tying into various cloud services – these all add code, processes, and network calls that aren’t directly part of the core functionality the user wants, but serve the business.
- Complexity: Modern requirements like stringent security, connecting everything to the internet, and handling incredibly high-resolution displays and complex graphics add inherent challenges and potentially necessary overhead.