Why would you relate computer performance to 1 divided by the execution time?
I'm having trouble understanding a very basic formula given to me in my textbook. Assuming that the below equation is true I didn't have much trouble understanding the subsequent more complicated calculations but I still wonder about this basic equational assumption.
"In discussing the performance of computers, we will be primarily concerned with response time for the first few chapters. To maximize performance, we want to minimize response time or execution time for some task. Thus, we can relate performance and execution time for a computer X:"
Patterson, David A.. Computer Organization and Design MIPS Edition: The Hardware/Software Interface (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Architecture and Design) (Kindle Locations 1460-1462). Elsevier Science. Kindle Edition.
What does the '1' represent in this equation? Why is the equation not simply given as Performance_x = Execution time_x? By the way, this question is not a quiz, test, or homework question.
We call these two quantities inversely proportional, since as one goes up the other goes down.
To make a more specific equation you would find a specific value instead of the 1, but here since we don't actually care about their specific values, just the direction we can simplify it to 1.