Efficiency

A measure of the effort to achieve a particular result, often in comparison to some kind of theoretical minimal effort required.

Efficiency is a major concern when resources are highly constrained. For example some years ago system memory, CPU cycles and disk space were expensive. A vast amount of time and effort were invested to ensure that software was as efficient as possible. When the costs of these resources decreases less emphasis is placed on efficiency and more on the implementation costs, robustness and maintainability. This is an example of cost balance.

There is always a need to increase output, but the focus should always be on maximising the efficiency only for the most scarce inputs.

Links to this page

The following pages link to here: ANSI Four Schema Model, Cost Balance, Enterprise Architecture, Key Performance Indicator, Learning Curve