Wasted Cycles
In a past life, I worked as a part time DBA and an interface and batch process expert. An intriguing ( and disturbing) fact that I always saw was that the machine CPU always showed more than 80% free ! So pained was I to see this state of affairs, that I spent a lot of time devising processes that use parallel processing features of databases and ran multiple load sharing batch processes on the same data set to finish processes faster ( or to wrench out work from the CPU - if I may confess !). I even created mammoth denormalized structures during lean period ( read - night time), so that reports could use them during the day. I even implemented the badly supported features like real-time trigger based updates, to keep the machine busy and spread out the processing evenly.
In hindsight, I realize that I was trying to achieve as an application programmer and analyst, something that should have been the job of the chip designer, or the OS writer, or the package creator (database or ERP company guys) or all of them together. The application programmer is a 'end user' of these products ! He has a limitation to how intelligent and resourceful and clever he can be ? You cant run a grand prix on a bullock cart no matter what you do..
The very fact that the disks on a system are always churning while the CPU is dozing off - means that there's something seriously wrong with the way we're doing things in the world of computers..
To call ourselves intelligent, while we try covering up our limitations through CPU features like pipelining etc. is nothing short of sham. It's time someone got up and called it a day.
I wish I see it while I can still type :-)
In a past life, I worked as a part time DBA and an interface and batch process expert. An intriguing ( and disturbing) fact that I always saw was that the machine CPU always showed more than 80% free ! So pained was I to see this state of affairs, that I spent a lot of time devising processes that use parallel processing features of databases and ran multiple load sharing batch processes on the same data set to finish processes faster ( or to wrench out work from the CPU - if I may confess !). I even created mammoth denormalized structures during lean period ( read - night time), so that reports could use them during the day. I even implemented the badly supported features like real-time trigger based updates, to keep the machine busy and spread out the processing evenly.
In hindsight, I realize that I was trying to achieve as an application programmer and analyst, something that should have been the job of the chip designer, or the OS writer, or the package creator (database or ERP company guys) or all of them together. The application programmer is a 'end user' of these products ! He has a limitation to how intelligent and resourceful and clever he can be ? You cant run a grand prix on a bullock cart no matter what you do..
The very fact that the disks on a system are always churning while the CPU is dozing off - means that there's something seriously wrong with the way we're doing things in the world of computers..
To call ourselves intelligent, while we try covering up our limitations through CPU features like pipelining etc. is nothing short of sham. It's time someone got up and called it a day.
I wish I see it while I can still type :-)
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