C++ Footprint and Performance Optimization

System Influences

When doing timing tests as proposed in the previous section, it is important to realize that you are in fact timing system behavior while you are running your code. This means that, because your piece of code is not the only thing the system is dealing with, other factors will influence your test results. The most intrusive factors are other programs running on the system. This influence can of course be minimized by running as few other programs on your system as possible while performing timing tests, and increasing the priority of the process you are timing as much as possible. Still some influences will remain because they are inherent to the operating system. This section discusses the remaining system influences and how ...