Scaling up to human timeframes, one billion to one:
Pull the trigger on a drill in your hand 0.5s
Pick up a drill from where you put it down 5s
Find the right bit in the case 7s
Change bits 25s
Go get the toolkit from the truck 100s
Go to the store, buy a new tool 3000s
Work from noon until 5:30 20000s
Part won't be in for three days 250000s
Part won't be in until next week 500000s
Almost four months 10000000s
8 months 20000000s
Five years. 150000000s
This is the same basic advice that I try to keep in mind when writing English text. A word that the reader already knows is in "L1." A word they have to stop and think about is an L1 miss. If they have to reach for the dictionary, it's an L2 miss -- and probably several more cycles for a line fill, as they get distracted reading the next few entries in the dictionary.
As programmers, Strunk & White might have made the list of the all-time greats.
Pull the trigger on a drill in your hand 0.5s Pick up a drill from where you put it down 5s Find the right bit in the case 7s Change bits 25s Go get the toolkit from the truck 100s Go to the store, buy a new tool 3000s Work from noon until 5:30 20000s Part won't be in for three days 250000s Part won't be in until next week 500000s Almost four months 10000000s 8 months 20000000s Five years. 150000000s