Koomey's Law
Koomey's Law is an empirical observation in computing that states the energy efficiency of computing doubles approximately every 1.57 years. It was proposed by Jonathan Koomey in 2010, based on historical data showing that the number of computations per kilowatt-hour of electricity has increased exponentially over decades. This law highlights the trend of improving energy efficiency in computing hardware, complementing Moore's Law which focuses on transistor density.
Developers should understand Koomey's Law when working on energy-efficient software, green computing, or IoT applications where power consumption is critical. It provides a framework for predicting future energy efficiency gains, which is essential for designing sustainable systems, optimizing data center operations, and developing low-power embedded devices. This knowledge helps in making informed decisions about hardware selection and software optimization to reduce environmental impact and operational costs.