[Fell]

> Our job is to write programs that run well on the hardware that we are given.

I actually believe "the hardware that we are given" is the entire root of the problem.

Most programmers work and test using whatever hardware is current at the time, but this is makes them blind to possible performance issues.

Take whatever you're working on, and run it on the hardware of 5-10 years ago. If you still have a good experience, you're doing it right. If not, you should probably stop upgrading developer machines for a while.

Whatever your minimum hardware requirements are should determine your development machines. This way, you will naturally ensure your low-end customers have a good experience while your high-end customers will have an even better experience.

My game studio has been doing this for years. It saves money for expensive hardware, it prevents performance issues before they arise and it saves developer time for not having to overthink optimization.

[fellerts]

I don't think the "job description" is accurate though. Most programmer's jobs is to write code that runs well _enough_ on the hardware that we are given. What "well enough" means depends heavily on whether you are working on firmware, a game engine or a web application. If performance isn't important, you end up with slow software.