Despite LazyOptimization being a very good strategy, I like to do EarlyProfiling. -- DierkKoenig

Profiling your code early when it is still small and simple gives you the feedback on whether the code does what you think it does. I usually start the profiler on my AllTests.

To get around the most common misconception first: EarlyProfiling does not mean that you do any perfomance optimization to the code. (You may though, if the profiling shows that you really have to do it, or if you find a way to do it via "usual" XP refactoring, thus catching two flies at once.)

EarlyProfiling
	* gives you a kind of feedback that you do not get from a TestCase (maybe missing Perfomance Tests)
	* makes you comfortable with your ProfilingTools while your code is still easy to profile
	* gets you "in shape" for the hard work of profiling for the bigger system later, when you may need to do LazyOptimization
	* gives you the confidence that your refactorings really had no performance hit
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When should I profile?

I would suggest early and regularly, e.g. every Friday afternoon.
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My preferred Profiler is AlphaworksJinsight.
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Mine isn't. ;)  But there's a list of JavaProfilers.

In a desktop application, EarlyProfiling can help you make good low-level design decisions (like, does this behavior need to be run in a background thread) by keeping your familiar with the performance characteristics of your code - especially in the presence of 3rd party API's you may know very little about.

SteveWilson writes that any response slower than about 50ms is going to feel "sluggish" to the end user.

-- PaulMclachlan