1. EachPod

60,000 Times Slower Python

Author
Pragmatic AI Labs
Published
Sun 23 Feb 2025
Episode Link
podcast.paiml.com

The End of Moore's Law and the Future of Computing Performance

The Automobile Industry Parallel

  • 1960s: Focus on power over efficiency (muscle cars, gas guzzlers)
  • Evolution through Japanese efficiency, turbocharging, to electric vehicles
  • Similar pattern now happening in computing

The Python Performance Crisis

  • Matrix multiplication example: 7 hours vs 0.5 seconds
  • 60,000x performance difference through optimization
  • Demonstrates massive inefficiencies in modern languages
  • Industry was misled by Moore's Law into deprioritizing performance

Performance Improvement Hierarchy

  1. Language Choice Improvements:

    • Java: 11x faster than Python
    • C: 50x faster than Python
    • Why stop at C-level performance?
  2. Additional Optimization Layers:

    • Parallel loops: 366x speedup
    • Parallel divide and conquer
    • Vectorization
    • Chip-specific features

The New Reality in 2025

  • Moore's Law's automatic performance gains are gone
  • LLMs make code generation easier but not necessarily better
  • Need experts who understand performance optimization
  • Pushing for "faster than C" as the new standard

Future Directions

  • Modern compiled languages gaining attention (Rust, Go, Zig)
  • Example: 16KB Zig web server in Docker
  • Rethinking architectures:
    • Microservices with tiny containers
    • WebAssembly over JavaScript
    • Performance-first design

Key Paradigm Shifts

  • Developer time no longer prioritized over runtime
  • Production code should never be slower than C
  • Single-stack ownership enables optimization
  • Need for coordinated improvement across:
    • Language design
    • Algorithms
    • Hardware architecture

Looking Forward

  • Shift from interpreted to modern compiled languages
  • Performance engineering becoming critical skill
  • Domain-specific hardware acceleration
  • Integrated approach to performance optimization

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