Re:An Introduction to Cache-Oblivious Data Structures
by dspillett on Wednesday February 07, 2018 @04:47AM
(#16323325)
> Sure, maybe. The problem is that doesn't seem enough to necessarily compensate for the added complexity.
A 50% improvement could be massively significant if processing a huge data-set on thousands of nodes and it is still taking days/weeks/more of wall-clock time. Given the choice between waiting longer, buying more computer power, or using a more complex algorithm, the best of those choices will depend a lot on the circumstances of the project. If it is a one-off then waiting or paying for power will likely win out. Of course in some circumstances paying for more power won't help: you can only get so much out of each node and for some processes factors like interconnect throughput & latency might eat into the ROI significantly as the number of nodes grow.
In some cases a 10% or less boost might be worth the extra complexity. And if the algorithm can be generalised and packages as a library, you aren't actually having to deal with that complexity each time the method is useful.
A 50% improvement could be massively significant if processing a huge data-set on thousands of nodes and it is still taking days/weeks/more of wall-clock time. Given the choice between waiting longer, buying more computer power, or using a more complex algorithm, the best of those choices will depend a lot on the circumstances of the project. If it is a one-off then waiting or paying for power will likely win out. Of course in some circumstances paying for more power won't help: you can only get so much out of each node and for some processes factors like interconnect throughput & latency might eat into the ROI significantly as the number of nodes grow.
In some cases a 10% or less boost might be worth the extra complexity. And if the algorithm can be generalised and packages as a library, you aren't actually having to deal with that complexity each time the method is useful.