Experiment: The hidden costs of waiting on slow build times

The text discusses the cost-benefit analysis of investing in more powerful computing resources for development teams, particularly in the context of using GitHub's larger hosted runners. It addresses the common business concern over the expense of hardware, whether physical or cloud-based, and contrasts this with the potential productivity gains for developers. The experiment conducted shows that although more powerful hardware entails higher upfront costs, it significantly reduces build times, allowing developers more time to focus on coding rather than waiting for builds to complete. The analysis reveals that the cost of developer time lost to slow builds or productivity loss from context switching far outweighs the cost of upgrading to more powerful compute resources. For instance, using higher-tier compute options can save a company substantial amounts in developer costs, highlighting the long-term financial and productivity benefits of investing in better hardware. Furthermore, the findings are applicable beyond GitHub's runners, suggesting a general principle that investing in superior CPU power ultimately leads to more efficient and less frustrating work environments for developers.