[throwaway_pdp09]

Dan Lemire is a prof but also a very hands-dirty type. He measures stuff down to CPU IPC levels. Check other stuff on his blog, he's not an ivory tower type[0]

[0] Not that there's anything wrong with that at all, it's just a different kind of person with different strengths, but DL is not one.

[mrec]

Oh, I thought the name looked familiar. I've used his JavaFastPFOR library; very performant and a pleasure to work with.

[paloaltokid]

Ah, that makes sense. It sounds like he balances being academic with trying to work through things in a real-world way.