Tag
variance
- Jun 16, 2026 Filtering Normal Maps Without Flattening the Detail Why averaging encoded normals is not the same as averaging the surfaces they describe, what renormalization and variance preservation each recover, and how to choose between them. computer graphics
- Feb 22, 2025 Structural Subtyping and the Variance Lattice Why a record with more fields fits where fewer are expected, why function arguments run the other way, and why a mutable field destroys both. programming languages
- Feb 22, 2025 Warmup Transients and Detecting Steady State in Timed Loops Why the first iterations of a timed loop measure a different program, which subsystems are still converging, and how to locate the transition into steady state rather than assuming it. performance engineering
- Oct 16, 2024 Confidence Intervals for the Difference Between Two Benchmark Runtimes Why two overlapping intervals can still hide a real difference, how the standard error of a difference is computed from paired or independent samples, and what a ratio estimate needs before it is trustworthy. performance engineering
- Jul 26, 2024 Queueing Delay and the Cost of Service-Time Variance Why waiting time depends on variance rather than only on mean load, how the M/M/1 and M/G/1 results express that dependence, and what reducing variance buys. backend systems
- Sep 23, 2023 Frequency Moments and the Tug-of-War Sketch How a random sign vector turns the second frequency moment into a sum of squares, why the estimator is unbiased, and how the same construction generalises to higher moments. algorithms
- Feb 28, 2023 Variance Reduction by Pairing, Interleaving, and Blocking How separating between-session drift from within-session noise reduces the number of runs a comparison needs, why alternation cancels slow drift but not carryover state, and how to schedule the two versions. performance engineering
- Dec 26, 2022 Variance and the Effective Capacity of a Replica Pool How service-time variance and partially correlated demand shrink the throughput a pool can sustain at a latency target, and why replica count, not average load, sets the tail. performance engineering