@Stopgaps

Raheim,

I think you have cause and effect back to front: bad coding practices stem from the fact that processors have become ever more powerful and cheaper at the same time. Think back to the days of the ZX80 - we could build entire word processor programmes that ran in 1k ram on a 3.5MHz(?) processor.

Integrated circuits have become more powerful more as side effect of competition than an immediate need for the raw power. The speed races of the last decade were a marketing ploy (loosely linked to 'Moore's Law') rather than any inherent need for your wordprocessor to run any faster.