Not enough substance

The book is well written but there is not enough facts. Not enough meat for your money.
The chapter on compilers and profilers is very weak. It talks about the Gnu C++ compiler and mentions MS Visual C++ in short. The Intel compiler is not mentioned even though it is probably the most optimizing compiler for Intel and AMD processors. VTune code analyzer and profiler is the best tool available for measuring code performance and reveil processor stalls. It is not mentioned.
Performance of different datatypes is handled in 1/3 page and it concludes that integer computations are faster than floating point computations and should be used where ever possible ! "So, to judge whether to replace floats and doubles with integers, an implementer must determine how often the different arithmetic functions are likely to be used" !!. In my world integer and floating point numbers are two entirely different things.
The chapter about sorting algorithms contains nothing else than any other book on the subject. The O notation is the only thing regarding algorithm performance. The entire chapter looks like something that is thrown in to give the book a little thickness.
There is no information on modern processors. Data caching and optimizations on it is explained in one page. No such thing as level 1, level 2 caches or cache line splits are mentioned.
Who cares about printf and putc performance these days.
The book contains little that could not be found out doing a little timing on a few basic codesnippets by yourself. A lot of easy going language is used - walking carefully around substance without touching it.
The book can serve as a ligth introduction on code performance for beginning SW developers - nothing else.

Other Reviews

• Very good for non-pros
• Good enough for novices.
• My Take
• Great outline, no substance
• Not enough substance