Professional LAMP: Linux®, Apache, MySQL®, and PHP5 Web Development

9.1. Why Bother?

The first question to ask yourself is "Do I need to do anything?" If you haven't started coding yet then the answer is obviously "Yes"—take the time to plan what your program is supposed to do, and try to develop a feel for where its performance might drag. But if you have a site that's up and running that you're tempted to fiddle with to make it go faster, ask yourself if doing so really would be worth the hassle. Is it running too slow for your taste? Which part? Will your fiddling make it go faster? By how much? And are you sure you won't break something in the process? By considering some of these questions you can avoid wasting a lot of time and effort on something that produces no benefit, and if you're lucky, discover a trivial change that nets you an enormous performance boost.

9.1.1. A Lot for a Little

In one company I worked for there was a computer used for generating reports. The software was Windows NT4 and Microsoft Access 97 (this was in 2004), the installed memory was 32MB, and printing a report was an exercise in patience. You could go and get a cup of coffee while it repainted the screen. There was talk of upgrading to a new computer because it was "so slow."

The "simple" answer—the one that could be reached without analysis—would have been to replace the existing machine with a new computer, with the latest versions of Windows and Access, followed by setting up the network user accounts and spending a day fighting the fires that seem to inevitably ...