If you're just going to sit there doing nothing, at least do nothing correctly (2024)
In this 2024 post from The Old New Thing, Raymond Chen explores the concept of doing nothing correctly in software. He explains that many developers implement idle loops or waiting operations inefficiently, such as using busy-waiting or Sleep(0) in a loop, which can consume CPU time unnecessarily. Chen provides concrete examples from Windows programming, showing how to use proper synchronization primitives like WaitForSingleObject or MsgWaitForMultipleObjects to block efficiently. He emphasizes that even when a program appears to be doing nothing, it should yield the CPU to other processes. The post is a practical guide for avoiding common pitfalls in event-driven and multithreaded applications, with a humorous tone but serious technical advice.
Efficient idle loops prevent CPU waste, improving system performance and battery life.