Nested If condition and logical AND operation - if-statement

void somefunction(struct *str, const char *status)
{
if (str != NULL)
{
if (status != NULL)
{
str_copy(str->something, status, sizeof(str->something));
}
}
}
//which is better in the sense of CPU cycle above one or bellow one ?
Which takes more CPU cycle ?
void somefunction(struct *str, const char *status)
{
if (str != NULL && status != NULL)
{
str_copy(str->something, status, sizeof(str->something));
}
}
Which takes more CPU cycle ?

The second piece of code will be better if your language supports short circuit evaluation. In case of short circuit evaluation the second expression in the statement if (str != NULL && status != NULL) will not be evaluated if the first expression str != NULL evaluates to false. The advantage arises from the fact that your assembly code corresponding to the second piece of code will not contain the jump statement present in the assembly code of the first piece of code.
So this will give you slightly faster assembly code, unless the compiler performs some sort of optimization by itself. Profile both the codes to see whether your compiler is doing this or not.

Related

Is there a way of doing a "post switch" like operation with bool?

I have a condition like the following where I just want to have the second bool be the trigger for a single time, since this condition is invoked relatively often I don't like the idea of doing the assignment of it being false every time the condition is true so, I tried to take advantage of the order of logical AND and OR and the post increment operator. But it appears to work don't do what I expected it to do. So is there a way to make a post state switch for this line?
where firstTitleNotSet is:
bool firstTitleNotSet;
if (titleChangedSinceLastGet() || (p_firstTitleNotSet && p_firstTitleNotSet++))
The idea is that the first part is the primary trigger and the second is the trigger that only has to trigger the first time.
While I easily could do
if (titleChangedSinceLastGet() || p_firstTitleNotSet)
{
firstTitleNotSet = false;
//...
}
I don't like this as it is reassigning false when ever the conditional block is invoked.
So is there some way of "post change" the value of a bool from true to false? I know that this would work the other way around but this would negate the advantage of the method most time being the true trigger and therefor skipping the following check.
Note: The reasons for me making such considerations isntead of just taking the second case is, that this block will be called frequently so I'm looking to optimize its consumed runtime.
Well, you could do something like:
if (titleChangedSinceLastGet() ||
(p_firstTitleNotSet ? ((p_firstTitleNotSet=false), true):false))
An alternative syntax would be:
if (titleChangedSinceLastGet() ||
(p_firstTitleNotSet && ((p_firstTitleNotSet=false), true)))
Either one looks somewhat ugly. Note, however, that this is NOT the same as your other alternative:
if (titleChangedSinceLastGet() || p_firstTitleNotSet)
{
p_firstTitleNotSet = false;
//...
}
With your proposed alternative, pontificate the fact that p_firstTitleNotSet gets reset to false no matter what, even if the conditional was entered because titleChangedSinceLastGet().
A more readable way than the assignment inside a ternary operator inside an or inside an if would be just moving the operations to their own statements:
bool needsUpdate = titleChangedSinceLastGet();
if(!needsUpdate && firstTitleSet)
{
needsUpdate = true;
firstTitleSet = false;
}
if(needsUpdate)
{
//...
}
This is likely to produce very similar assembly than the less readable alternative proposed since ternary operators are mostly just syntactic sugar around if statements.
To demonstrate this I gave GCC Explorer the following code:
extern bool first;
bool changed();
int f1()
{
if (changed() ||
(first ? ((first=false), true):false))
return 1;
return 0;
}
int f2()
{
bool b = changed();
if(!b && first)
{
b = true;
first = false;
}
return b;
}
and the generated assembly had only small differences in the generated assembly after optimizations. Certainly have a look for yourself.
I maintain, however, that this is highly unlikely to make a noticeable difference in performance and that this is more for interest's sake.
In my opinion:
if(titleChangedSinceLastUpdate() || firstTitleSet)
{
firstTitleSet = false;
//...
}
is an (at least) equally good option.
You can compare the assembly of the above functions with this one to compare further.
bool f3()
{
if(changed() || first)
{
first = false;
return true;
}
return false;
}
In this kind of situation, I usually write:
bool firstTitleNotSet = true;
if (titleChangedSinceLastGet() || firstTitleNotSet)
{
if (firstTileNotSet) firstTitleNotSet = false;
//...
}
That second comparison will likely be optimized by the compiler.
But if you have a preference for a post-increment operator:
int iterationCount = 0;
if (titleChangedSinceLastGet() || iterationCount++ != 0)
{
//...
}
Note that this will be a problem if iterationCount overflows, but the same is true of the bool firstTitleNotSet that you were post-incrementing.
In terms of code readability and maintainability, I would recommend the former. If the logic of your code is sound, you can probably rely on the compiler to do a very good job optimizing it, even if it looks inelegant to you.
That should work:
int firstTitleSet = 0;
if (titleChangedSinceLastGet() || (!firstTitleSet++))
If you wish to avoid overflow you can do:
int b = 1;
if (titleChangedSinceLastGet() || (b=b*2%4))
at the first iteration b=2 while b=0 at the rest of them.

Optimized code for two string compare in if condition

I want to do two string compare and used two different if condition. Is there any better way to do string compare in one if condition
if (strcmp(Buff1(), Config1) == 0)
{
if (strcmp(Buff2, Config2) == 0)
{
// my code goes here
}
}
The equivalent code is:
if ((strcmp(Buff1(), Config1) == 0)) &&
(strcmp(Buff2, Config2) == 0))
{
// my code goes here
}
Note: The compiler should generate the same machine code for both code samples. The difference is cosmetic and primarily aimed at the reader of the code.
You do get a difference when you add else clauses:
if (strcmp(Buff1(), Config1) == 0)
{
if (strcmp(Buff2, Config2) == 0)
{
// my code goes here
}
else
{
// else 1
}
}
else
{
// else 2
}
Compared to:
if ((strcmp(Buff1(), Config1) == 0)) &&
(strcmp(Buff2, Config2) == 0))
{
// my code goes here
}
else
{
// Single else clause
}
In addition to Klas's answer(just in case you're not familiar with the AND operator) - the AND operator ('&&') checks the first condition and it continues to check the second condition -only if- the first condition is true.
So in your specific question, it checks if the first couple of strings are equal and only if true (are equal), it checks if the second couple are also equal.
The obvious optimization (not mentioned yet), if you know anything about those strings, is to first perform the compare that is more likely to fail.

Best practice for having two if statements from the same bool c++

I have an if statement that [obviously] only runs if the condition is true. After this if statement there is some code that should always run, after that is another if statement that should run under the same condition as the first.
The code in the middle is performing an operation using a particular element of a stack, the ifs on either side perform a push/pop on the stack before and after the operation respectively.
so the logic is something like this:
Do I need to push the stack? yes/no
perform operation on top of stack
Was the stack pushed? (if yes then pop)
items 1 and 3 are the same condition.
This is the code that I first wrote to do this in c++
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int somefunction(){
return rand() % 3 + 1; //return a random number from 1 to 3
}
int ret = 0;
//:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
// Option 1 Start
//:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
int main(){
bool run = (ret = somefunction()) == 1; //if the return of the function is 1
run = (run || (ret == 2)); //or the return of the function is 2
if (run){ //execute this if block
//conditional code
if (ret == 1){
//more conditional code
}
}
//unconditional code
if (run){
//even more conditional code
}
}
//:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
// Option 1 End
//:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
After writing this I thought that it might be more efficient to do this:
//:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
// Option 2 Start
//:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
int main(){
bool run;
if (run=(((ret = somefunction()) == 1)||ret == 2)){ //if the return of the function is 1 or 2 then execute this if block
//conditional code
if (ret == 1){
//more conditional code
}
}
//unconditional code
if (run){
//even more conditional code
}
}
//:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
// Option 2 End
//:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
I prefer the first method for readability as it is split into several lines whereas the second has two assignments (=) and two comparisons (==) in the same line.
I want to know if it is better to use the second method (for reasons of efficiency or executable size) or if there is a better method than both.
Before anyone says it will only make an almost immeasurable difference, this is in a huge loop that has to run many thousands of times within 1/50 of a second so I would like to save as much time as possible.
Performance should not be your concern: the modern compilers are usually smart enough to optimize the code in any case. The results will be the same if the code is doing essentially the same thing.
So you should prefer the variant which is more readable (and therefore better maintainable).
I would write something like that:
ret = somefunction();
// I don't know what is the semantics of ret == 1, so let's imagine some
bool operationIsPush = (ret == 1);
bool operationIsOnTop = (ret == 2);
if (operationIsPush || operationIsOnTop)
{
//conditional code
}
if (operationIsPush)
{
//more conditional code
}
//unconditional code
if (operationIsPush || operationIsOnTop)
{
// ...
}
I believe there will be no difference in the performance here. The first reason is that your compiler will probably optimize the code in each case. The second is that you just change the place where operations take place (like "I do A->B->C or A->C->B"), not the amount of operations, so it's always the same amount of computing (1 function call, a couple of == and so on).
However consider that this
(run=(((ret = somefunction()) == 1)||ret == 2))
is pretty hard to read.
Correctness is more important than whether you fold two operations assigning a bool into one (which the compiler will probably do anyway).
For pushing/popping a stack, you should use a scopeguard (original article here). This will ensure that if something throws in the "unconditional bit", which you never really know for sure, then it still runs correctly. Otherwise you get funny a surprise (stack off by one, or overflowing).
if theres a situation that you can split "if-else" to distinct huge loops, it will be faster
rather than
loop { if_1 {some work} if_2 {some other work} }
you can
if_1 { loop {work }} if_2 {loop{same work}}
even more extremely, if you can split the most inner "if" sentences, you can have 10-20(dpending on your situation) distinct huge loops that runs x2 x3 faster (if it is slow bacause of "if")

Is this the right way to use recursion?

Given strings s and t compute recursively, if t is contained in s return true.
Example: bool find("Names Richard", "Richard") == true;
I have written the code below, but I'm not sure if its the right way to use recursion in C++; I just learned recursion today in class.
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
bool find(string s, string t)
{
if (s.empty() || t.empty())
return false;
int find = static_cast<int>(s.find(t));
if (find > 0)
return true;
}
int main()
{
bool b = find("Mississippi", "sip");
string s;
if (b == 1) s = "true";
else
s = "false";
cout << s;
}
If anyone find an error in my code, please tell me so I can fix it or where I can learn/read more about this topic. I need to get ready for a test on recursion on this Wednesday.
The question has changed since I wrote my answer.
My comments are on the code that looked like this (and could recurse)...
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
bool find(string s, string t)
{
if (s.empty() || t.empty())
return false;
string start = s.substr(0, 2);
if (start == t && find(s.substr(3), t));
return true;
}
int main()
{
bool b = find("Mississippi", "sip");
string s;
if (b == 1) s = "true";
else
s = "false";
cout << s;
}
Watch out for this:
if (start == t && find(s.substr(3), t));
return true;
This does not do what you think it does.
The ; at the end of the if-statement leaves an empty body. Your find() function will return true regardless of the outcome of that test.
I recommend you turn up the warning levels on your compiler to catch this kind of issue before you have to debug it.
As an aside, I find using braces around every code-block, even one-line blocks, helps me avoid this kind of mistake.
There are other errors in your code, too. Removing the magic numbers 2 and 3 from find() will encourage you to think about what they represent and point you on the right path.
How would you expect start == t && find(s.substr(3), t) to work? If you can express an algorithm in plain English (or your native tongue), you have a much higher chance of being able to express it in C++.
Additionally, I recommend adding test cases that should return false (such as find("satsuma", "onion")) to ensure that your code works as well as calls that should return true.
The last piece of advice is stylistic, laying your code out like this will make the boolean expression that you are testing more obvious without resorting to a temporary and comparing to 1:
int main()
{
std::string s;
if (find("Mississippi", "sip"))
{
s = "true";
}
else
{
s = "false";
}
std::cout << s << std::endl;
}
Good luck with your class!
Your recursive function needs 2 things:
Definite conditions of failure and success (may be more than 1)
a call of itself to process a simpler version of the problem (getting closer to the answer).
Here's a quick analysis:
bool find(string s, string t)
{
if (s.empty() || t.empty()) //definite condition of failure. Good
return false;
string start = s.substr(0, 2);
if (start == t && find(s.substr(3), t)); //mixed up definition of success and recursive call
return true;
}
Try this instead:
bool find(string s, string t)
{
if (s.empty() || t.empty()) //definite condition of failure. Done!
return false;
string start = s.substr(0, 2);
if (start == t) //definite condition of success. Done!
return true;
else
return find(s.substr(3), t) //simply the problem and return whatever it finds
}
You're on the right lines - so long as the function calls itself you can say that it's recursive - but even the most simple testing should tell you that your code doesn't work correctly. Change "sip" to "sipx", for example, and it still outputs true. Have you compiled and run this program? Have you tested it with various different inputs?
You are not using recursion. Using std::string::find in your function feels like cheating (this will most likely not earn points).
The only reasonable interpretation of the task is: Check if t is an infix of s without using loops or string functions.
Let's look at the trivial case: Epsilon (the empty word) is an infix of ever word, so if t.empty() holds, you must return true.
Otherwise you have two choices to make:
t might be a prefix of s which is simple to check using recursion; simply check if the first character of t equals the first character of s and call isPrefix with the remainder of the strings. If this returns true, you return true.
Otherwise you pop the first character of s (and not of t) and proceed recursively (calling find this time).
If you follow this recipe (which btw. is easier to implement with char const* than with std::string if you ask me) you get a recursive function that only uses conditionals and no library support.
Note: this is not at all the most efficient implementation, but you didn't ask for efficiency but for a recursive function.

Why does a false statement still execute?

I have this code...
void drawMap(void)
{
if (false)
return;
for(auto iter = this->m_layers.begin(); iter != m_layers.end(); ++iter)
{
if ((*iter)->get() == NULL)
continue;
PN::draw((*iter)->get(), b2Vec2(0,0), true, 0);
}
}
If I'm not mistaken it should NEVER execute...but it does...and when I change
if (false)
return;
to
if (false)
return;
else
return;
it doesn't execute at all now, but how can that first statement NOT be false? grabs headache pills
P.S. I only did this 'cause I was debugging and noticed my code was drawing to the screen when it wasn't supposed to.
if (false) will never execute its body... because the value of the condition is never true. So in the code you've given, the remainder of drawMap will always execute because it will never return at the start.
Consider if (x == 5) - that will only execute if the expression x == 5 is true. Now substitute false for x == 5...
If you want an if statement which will always execute, you want
if (true)
instead.
Count me in with the crowd that didn't actually read the problem well enough, or couldn't believe that the OP didn't understand the problem if it were so simple :)
John Skeet's answer, of course, was spot on :)
Two thoughts:
If you're in a debugger, lines can appear to be executed, out of order, not at all or at unexpected lines when compiled with optimizations. This is because some machine instructions will get 'attributed' to different source lines. Compile without optimization to eliminate the source of confusion. It is confusing only, as optimizations should (! barring compiler bugs) not alter effective behaviour
It could be that you're getting an evil #define for false that you cannot trust. Rule this out by running the code through preprocessor only. g++ -E will do that. MSVC++ has an option to 'keep preprocessed' source
Blockquote
if (false)
is analagous to
if (1 == 2)
and will therefore never execute the next statement (or block).
In your context consider the following comments I made:
void drawMap(void)
{
if (false) return; //Not gonna happen.
//The following will always happen
for(auto iter = this->m_layers.begin(); iter != m_layers.end(); ++iter)
{
if ((*iter)->get() == NULL)
continue;
PN::draw((*iter)->get(), b2Vec2(0,0), true, 0);
}
}
I have seen the usage of this if(false), in a switch / case like construction like this:
int ret = doSomeThingFunction();
if (false) {}
else if (ret < 0 ) {
}
else if (ret == 0) {
}
else if (ret > 0) {
}