November 5, 2025
Drama o’clock: spin the wheel
Timing Wheels
From hourglasses to code clocks: readers argue we’re reinventing the wheel
TLDR: A new chapter explains timing wheels—how computers quickly manage future tasks—while tracing timekeeping from hourglasses to Linux. Comments erupted over speed vs. accuracy, with geeks debating whether timing wheels are brilliant and scalable or just “reinventing the wheel,” plus plenty of jokes about cron and Shakespeare.
A chapter on “Timing Wheels”—a clever way computers schedule future tasks—dropped with a Shakespeare opener and a tour from hourglasses to Linux, and the comments instantly went full soap opera. Old-school fans cheered the history lesson, linking hourglasses and Torricelli’s law like they were posting museum selfies. Kernel folks flexed: timing wheels, they say, are the fast, memory‑friendly method for managing tons of timers, and the chapter’s nod to the classic Linux timer wheel vs. modern variants had them fist‑pumping.
Then the skeptics barged in. Cloud crew rolled their eyes at “wheel worship,” claiming modern apps should stick to event loops and high‑resolution timers, pointing to Linux’s timer docs and grumbling about precision. The biggest spat: speed vs. accuracy—does the wheel’s “bucket of timers” trade detail for performance? One camp shouted “reinventing the wheel,” another replied “this wheel still wins.” Jokes flew fast: someone posted an hourglass emoji every minute “for science,” a dad‑joke storm of “just use cron,” and a spicy quip that if Shakespeare has to sell your algorithm, maybe it needs a makeover. It’s educational, sure—but the real lesson is how deeply people feel about time, whether it’s sand, water…or a spinning wheel.
Key Points
- •The chapter traces timekeeping from historical devices to modern computing, focusing on timers and timing wheels.
- •Hourglasses were widely used for religious observance, work regulation, cooking, and especially maritime navigation.
- •Magellan’s voyage relied on ampolletas (large hourglasses) maintained and flipped every half hour for navigation and watch changes.
- •Clepsydra (water clocks) operated under Torricelli’s Law and were used in Athenian courts to allocate speaking time.
- •The chapter will cover software timer modules and detail both classic and modern Linux timer wheel implementations.