Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.)
When one programs a computer (in a way it suggested in TAOCP) and you know your data, your memory layout and your CPU instruction set nothing could beat it.
Of course, there are tasks so massive, that a decent compiler could save lots and lots of man hours, but it is a completely different story.
No Haskell (leave alone J* ) could beat a code by people who know what they do close to the metal.
In some languages the code could be shorter much more readable and elegant that C, but of course, it is not Haskell, or J* .
Thoughtfully crafted Common Lisp could be close to an ideal.)
When one programs a computer (in a way it suggested in TAOCP) and you know your data, your memory layout and your CPU instruction set nothing could beat it.
Of course, there are tasks so massive, that a decent compiler could save lots and lots of man hours, but it is a completely different story.
No Haskell (leave alone J* ) could beat a code by people who know what they do close to the metal.
In some languages the code could be shorter much more readable and elegant that C, but of course, it is not Haskell, or J* .
Thoughtfully crafted Common Lisp could be close to an ideal.)