An interesting analogy (and why is it that automotive analogies insist on cropping up in software development matters?).
Your car manufacturer presumably doesn't tell you that in most cases you should just ignore those settings - they are there specifically and precisely to add "functionality". The manufacturer isn't trying to pretend that their default auto setting are going to work for everyone. The GC on the other hand is supposed to just work, and the advice is "leave it alone"... but (they add) *in case* you need to there are these additional controls... but really, best leave them alone, because if you *do* use them then you will create other problems. Using "economy" mode won't break your car. "Tuning" the GC can cause serious issues for your application. So the analogy breaks down a little - these aren't "economy" and "performance" settings, they are "Service Mode" settings not intended for you to use except in extremis. Extending the analogy waaaay beyond breaking point... when automatic transmissions are great when they work, but when they go wrong they cost a helluva lot more to fix/maintain than a manual box. And there will be times when the auto transmission is frustratingly limiting and prevent you from obtaining the full performance of which the rest of your vehicle is capable. If all you ever do is the school/grocery run, then an automatic may suit you just fine, but if you want more flexibility, lower maintenance and fuel costs and more fun, plain and simple, from your vehicle then a manual box is the way to go. ;) -----Original Message----- From: delphi-boun...@delphi.org.nz [mailto:delphi-boun...@delphi.org.nz] On Behalf Of Sean Cross Sent: Friday, 18 September 2009 2:37 p.m. To: NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List Subject: Re: [DUG] A change in upgrade policy coming from Embarcadero > > The GC in .NET has evolved more and more facilities to "configure" and > "tune" it, which again raises the question in my mind... if GC is > supposed > to be this great, automated memory management system, why does it need > so > much tweaking and tuning? > In typical use, it doesn't need any tweaking. I suspect that there are some memory usage patterns it doesn't perform so well on, and in those cases you tune it. In extreme cases, you use something else :). In the same vein, if my wife's automatic gearbox is so good, why does it have a sports and economy setting? Regards Sean Cross _______________________________________________ NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi mailing list Post: delphi@delphi.org.nz Admin: http://delphi.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/delphi Unsubscribe: send an email to delphi-requ...@delphi.org.nz with Subject: unsubscribe _______________________________________________ NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi mailing list Post: delphi@delphi.org.nz Admin: http://delphi.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/delphi Unsubscribe: send an email to delphi-requ...@delphi.org.nz with Subject: unsubscribe
