As someone pointed out, you could have an attribute that says 'optimize the heck out of this routine', and your definition of heck would be a parameter to the optimizer.

Real programmers can write assembly code in any language.

It won't be covered in the book. The source code has to be useful for something, after all.

For me, writing is a love-hate relationship.

We all agree on the necessity of compromise. We just can't agree on when it's necessary to compromise.

I don't believe I've ever cuddled my elses.

To ordinary folks, conversion is not always automatic. It's something that may or may not require explicit assistance. See Billy Graham.