Understanding Software DynamicsRichard Sites
Understanding Software Dynamics
by Richard Sites · first published 2021
8mentions
6recommended by
8HN commenters
2021–2025first – last mentioned
75% recommend25% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Covers performance analysis of running software, including cache behavior, compiler optimizations, and scheduling, with a focus on tracing tools to find bottlenecks; for engineers who want to know why code runs slowly.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Understanding Software Dynamics (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series) 1st Edition by Richard L. Sites (https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Software-Addison-Wesley...) This is a recent book and I have not completed reading…
on “Ask HN: What excellent technical books have you read in 2021?” ↗The book Understanding Software Dynamics by Richard Sites is all about performance optimization https://www.amazon.in/Understanding-Software-Addison-Wesley-...
on “Ask HN: How can I learn about performance optimization?” ↗Read through Understanding Software Dynamics by Richard Sites and work through the example problems in the book. He discusses exactly what you're describing (L1/2/3 cache hit rates, their performance implications, how compiler optimizations can…
on “Ask HN: Going low-level – what to learn next?” ↗His book, "Understanding Software Dynamics", is one of the best technical books I've ever read. Top 3 for me.
on “KUtrace: Low-overhead Linux kernel tracing facility” ↗…absolutely one of the most powerful tools I've used for deeply understanding performance bottlenecks (after isolating issues) such as poor scheduling behavior. I would highly recommend reading his book "Understanding Software Dynamics" [1] if you are interested in learning more about KUtrace or performance bottlenecks/optimizations in general. The book is quite dense and dives deep into the performance characteristics of many examples…
on “KUtrace: Low-overhead Linux kernel tracing facility” ↗…contribution to the discussion: Something you could use to debug issues / detect weak points is a tracer. This book by Dick Sites (Early Google Engineer) goes over the design and use of such a tracer: Understanding Software Dynamics (review: https://www.usenix.org/publications/loginonline/understandin...)
on “Ask HN: Are there any articles/papers on fine tuning Virtual Memory BSD or Linux” ↗I'm going through Understanding Software Dynamics by Richard Sites now, and it's the first book I've read that covers the practical performance implications of some of these new features, even if briefly.
on “What's new in CPUs since the 80s? (2015)” ↗This is crazy value for money! I've been wanting to read Understanding Software Dynamics for some time, and that book alone costs €41 on ebooks.com.
on “Humble Tech Book Bundle: Linux Complete by Pearson” ↗