This is one where I’m fully comfortable with feeling like an impostor. I’ve gotten this far (~20 years) without more than a cursory glance at machine code, I’ll be pleased if I retire at the same level of relevant expertise.
Edit: don’t get me wrong! I admire the talent that goes into this and similar efforts, and find performance-chasing particularly inspiring in any context. This is just an area of that which I don’t anticipate ever wanting to tread myself.
The arrival of tools like Compiler Explorer means examining the assembly code is trivial. It's quite easy to fall down a rabbit hole of code tweaks to see what effect they have on codegen. Even examining the differences bwtween gcc and clang can be quite revealing.
Don't worry. It just seems like everyone else is so talented because no one writes articles about the 2 hrs they spent just trying to get their project to just build without errors. Or if they do, they don't get voted to the top of HN.
As a comment on the linked post notes, this is impressive enough that it could probably be the basis of a degree thesis. An astonishing exhibit of technical skill, very much a masterpiece in the original sense of the term.
Imposter syndrome you say? I scrolled all the way to the bottom of page hoping to see a solution written in a language I actually understand and not pretend to understand.
It's a feeling, a fear to be specific, so stems from a different part of the brain. No, I don't think fears go away completely. One learns to manage them.
Edit: don’t get me wrong! I admire the talent that goes into this and similar efforts, and find performance-chasing particularly inspiring in any context. This is just an area of that which I don’t anticipate ever wanting to tread myself.