More control will improve the amount of tension there is on the muscle. The more time-under tension the muscle is under,

With a small team, limited resources, and a job market scarce in skilled developers, Java meant we could quickly add software improvements as the Java ecosystem has quicker time-to-market than C derivatives. An improvement can be discussed in the morning, and be implemented, tested and released in production in the afternoon.,The second development to watch for is the inevitable release of additional and more powerful Apple processors. The M1 name itself suggests that more processors will be coming, and we expect Apple Silicon versions of the iMac and the 16-inch MacBook Pro to show up before too long. These should be able to handle demanding workflows even better.,However there is one issue, and a major one to boot. What makes Java such a powerful and enjoyable language is also its downfall (at least for microsecond sensitive applications), namely the Java Virtual Machine (JVM):,With Java, developers can focus on intuitive object-oriented business logic rather than debugging some obscure memory Core dumps or managing pointers like in C . And, thanks to Java’s robust internal memory management, junior programmers can also add value on day 1 with limited risk.,The reason Java does not compile the code at start-up has to do with long-term performance optimisation. By observing the application run and analysing real-time methods invocations and class initialisations, Java compiles frequently called portions of code. It might even make some assumptions based on experience (this portion of code never gets called or this object is always a String).,To gain those few crucial microseconds, most players invest in expensive hardware: pools of servers with overclocked liquid-cooled CPUs (in 2020 you can buy a server with 56 cores at 5.6 GHz and 1 TB RAM), collocation in major exchange datacentres, high-end nanosecond network switches, dedicated sub-oceanic lines (Hibernian Express is a major provider), even microwave networks.,The way Java manages the memory is by allocating chunks of memory in its “heap” space. Every so often, it will clean up that space and remove old objects to make room for new ones. The main issue is that to make an accurate count, application threads need to be momentarily “frozen”. This process is known as Garbage Collection (GC).,You can make this exercise more challenging by lowering your chest down to the ground at a slower tempo. A simple way to do this is by counting three seconds as you lower your body.,A method needs to be called a certain number of times to reach the compilation threshold before it can be optimised and compiled (the limit is configurable but typically around 10,000 calls). Until then, unoptimised code is not running at “full speed”. There is a compromise between getting quicker compilation and getting high-quality compilation (if the assumptions were wrong there will be a cost of recompilation).,For example, if you want to target your chest, you should make your hands wider than shoulder-width. While, if you want to develop your triceps, you can bring your hands narrower than shoulder width.,As for programming languages, C appears like a natural contender for the server-side application: It’s fast, as close to the machine code as it gets and, once compiled for the target platform, offers a constant processing time.,It’s common to see highly customised Linux kernels with OS bypass so that the data “jumps” directly from the network card to the application, IPC (Interprocess communication) and even FPGAs (programmable single-purpose chips).,Those normalised messages are then sent to algorithmic servers, statistics engines, user interfaces, logs servers, and databases of all kind (in-memory, physical, distributed).,Compared to big corporations that need weeks or even months for the slightest software update, this is a key advantage. And in a field where one bug can erase a whole year’s profit in seconds, we were not ready to compromise on quality. We implemented a rigorous Agile environment, including Jenkins, Maven, Unit tests, night builds and Jira, using many open source libraries and projects.,For example, Java will optimise and compile the best path as observed during the application run, but C compiles everything beforehand, so even unused methods will still be part of the final executable binary.