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Subject: Re: C++ Programming Q: are const and define efficiency the same

Author: Bo Persson

Date: 04:14:35 01/17/04

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On January 16, 2004 at 22:35:55, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On January 16, 2004 at 22:15:34, Federico Corigliano wrote:
>
>>Hi
>>
>>In my engine I have a lot of #defines as:
>>#define FileA 0xFFFFFFFF  <- I don't remember the real value
>>and I want to convert it to:
>>const UINT64 FileA = 0xFFFFFFFFF;
>>I the change can affect the speed. As I often use MSVC Debugger, it's boring to
>>translate every #define to the respective number.
>>
>>Federico
>
>I don't think there will be much difference.  Using a #define might produce
>some asm code with 32 bit immediate values which will bloat the code a bit,
>while using the const int64 will plop one copy of the value in memory making
>it fit in cache maybe a bit better.

<nitpicking>
There is a minute difference between C and C++, in that const values have
internal linkage by default in C++ (in C that would be 'static const'). That
saves the compiler from having to store the value in memory, as it cannot be
accessed from other compilation units anyway.
</nitpicking>

>
>Best bet is to try it and see which is faster for _your_ program and machine.

A good idea anyway.



Bo Persson





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