I've done enough programming in my lifetime to realize that the order one does certain calculations with algorithms can lead to disparities in data.
Uh huh...and if the order that the user might make an adjustments had ANY impact on the processing order, that would be interesting and useful.
Alas, that is not the case...regardless of what the user may do, the guys from Adobe have already chosen the optimal processing pipeline for ACR/LR. Regardless of what the user may or may not do, the actual order that ACR/LR has already been determined and fixed by the engineers...
While it's possible for a user to incorrectly adjust the settings for a given image, nothing the user might do will alter the order in which ACR/LR processes the image. Sure, users can screw up an image by selecting inappropriate settings but the order that the user may make the adjustments is simply not a factor.
OK? Can we move on? I really doesn't matter HOW the engineers do it (really, it doesn't) what matters is how you use the settings...
Are we done yet?