A good program doesn’t just work; it uses the most efficient method, like a chef choosing the optimal recipe
Knuth carefully analyzed thousands of different ways to sort or search data, measuring exactly how many steps and how much memory each method uses. Some recipes look simple but become very slow with much more data. Other, more complicated-looking recipes stay fast even with millions of entries.
Knuth teaches us that a method that works is not enough. When packing for a trip, you could just throw clothes randomly into the suitcase. It works, but it takes long to find something. A better method is to roll each item and layer them. This is the difference between a slow program and a fast one, especially when you have a lot to do.
Why it matters His books remain, decades later, a standard reference for software engineers.