Optimize performance now or later?

Engineers and architects often face the question of whether performance should be optimized now or later. This happens from the early stages of system design to already established production systems.

We all know optimizing performance is crucial, but whether to prioritize it from day one isn’t a simple binary question.

You may have heard of someone who said “Premature optimization is the root of evil.” The statement itself is theatrical, but there are some merits in it.

You may also have heard a quote saying, “Make it work, make it right, make it fast.” This was coined by software engineer Kent Beck.

So, what would be the consequences if a system is optimized prematurely, or if we reverse the order to “make it fast” too early?

Spending too much time on performance improvements before understanding user behaviors and requirements can lead to wasted effort. Moreover, it creates an unnecessarily...