[kachnuv_ocasek]

Let me ask a converse question: Why should a program be slow when it can be fast?

[nothrabannosir]

Not to defend op, just answering this question: code clarity, readability, simplicity, correctness, clearer error handling, ......

Depending on how much faster is "fast", these things can (dare I say, should) trump efficiency.

Essentially this is about optimisation vs premature optimisation. That's a horse dead for decades now.