Summary

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Premature Optimization symptoms are:

• Most optimizations performed before the final stages of development.

• Poor readability and maintainability caused by optimized code.

• Unnecessary constraints imposed early in development.

• Poor optimizations performed early without the necessary knowledge of the complete application.

• The caching of data for optimization purposes too early in development.

To prevent Premature Optimization:

• Do not optimize until later in development.

• Keep code simple as long as possible.

• Use high-level languages.

• Use encapsulation and abstraction to prepare for later optimization, providing needed reassurance that optimization can be done later.

• Take advantage of editor tools to avoid source code that is hard to read.

To cure Premature Optimization and perform proper optimizations when they are called for:

• Do not be afraid to remove optimizations by refactoring to improve readability and maintainability.

• Profile often when optimizing.

• Test often when optimizing and refactoring.

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