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From: "Jeffrey R.Carter" <spam.jrcarter.not@spam.acm.org.not>
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Subject: Re: String Buffer
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2021 20:56:31 +0100
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On 2021-12-02 19:17, Kevin Chadwick wrote:
> 
> Unbounded is said to be inefficient because it re-allocates.
> 
> In any case avoiding unbounded strings is almost certainly in the realm of premature optimisation
"Efficiency" is only meaningful in the context of a project's quantitative 
timing requirements: an efficient implementation allows the project to meet 
those requirements, while an inefficient implementation does not.

In the absence of such context, any claims of "inefficiency" (and especially 
blanket claims such as "Unbounded_String is inefficient") simply demonstrate the 
speaker's incompetence.

For an example of context, a decade ago I worked on a soft-real-time system that 
made extensive use of Unbounded_String and had no problem meeting its timing 
requirements. Unbounded_String was clearly efficient for that project. Since 
most projects that would use Unbounded_String have even less restrictive timing 
requirements than that system, it seems likely that Unbounded_String will be 
efficient for them, too.

-- 
Jeff Carter
"After fifteen minutes I wanted to marry her, and
after a half hour I completely gave up the idea of
snatching her purse."
Take the Money and Run
136