Performance and Optimization in Software Development

Software development projects often develop their own UI frameworks, some targeting specific platforms, but the commonality is moving away from using the web while the hardware keeps advancing. Hardware engineers make things go faster, while software engineers add complexity, creating a perpetual balance. Modern software optimization focuses on memory usage rather than processing speed. The speed of the CPU is constrained by its communication with memory, emphasizing the importance of fast memory access for program speed. Utilizing high-level languages like JavaScript results in slower performance due to the frequent need to access memory, akin to going back and forth to a neighbor's apartment for a pen instead of using the one nearby. Performance-focused projects recognize the importance of memory, often structuring data in arrays to optimize memory usage. Acknowledging the constraints and capabilities of computer hardware, such projects achieve speed by aligning with the mechanics of computers, a concept termed as 'mechanical sympathy'. While these projects leverage hardware mechanisms effectively, on the web platform, it is challenging to optimize performance due to inherent limitations, even with tools like WebAssembly offering minimal control over low-level performance tuning.