Re: Short-circuiting in C

From	Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: Short-circuiting in C
Date	2011-05-26 23:38 -0700
Organization	None to speak of
Message-ID	<lnboyoveao.fsf@nuthaus.mib.org> (permalink)
References	(3 earlier) <irm7h1$ea0$1@speranza.aioe.org> <threads-20110526210028@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de> <irm8kv$hgm$1@speranza.aioe.org> <branch-20110526213137@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de> <irmv5h$4on$1@speranza.aioe.org>

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Billy Mays <noway@nohow.com> writes:
> On 5/26/2011 3:32 PM, Stefan Ram wrote:
>> Billy Mays<noway@nohow.com>  writes:
>>> For example,
>>> if(a&&  b&&  c) {
>>>      /* Do stuff */
>>> }
>>> Neither thread will execute the body of the if statement, but Thread 2
>>> would branch away while Thread 1 would still be evaluating b and c.
>>
>>    Yes. The above is
>>
>> if(a)if(b)if(c)
>> {}
>>
>>    (as long as not followed by an »else«).
>>
>
> I believe this will work, thanks!

You do?  The point was to avoid differing branches depending on
differing values of a, b, and c.  In the if() form, the branches are,
in some sense, even more explicit than in the && form.

The problem is that the C language defines *behavior*, and you're trying
to control the manner in which that behavior is created, i.e., the
sequence of machine-level operations.  There's no 100% reliable way to
do that.

Of course you're going to have *some* inconsistent branching; depending
on the values of a, b, and c, each thread will or will not execute the
body of the if statement.  So you're trying to minimize the possible
differences in branching.

I think your best bet is probably to try a few possible solutions and
examine the generated assembly or machine language for each one.  If the
compiler knows that branching is expensive, it might optimize
    if (a && b && c)
into straight-line code.  That's assuming b and c have no side effects,
which you can guarantee by storing their values in temporary variables.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org  <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Nokia
"We must do something.  This is something.  Therefore, we must do this."
    -- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"

Thread

Short-circuiting in C Billy Mays <noway@nohow.com> - 2011-05-26 13:58 -0400
  Re: Short-circuiting in C Ben Pfaff <blp@cs.stanford.edu> - 2011-05-26 11:09 -0700
    Re: Short-circuiting in C Thomas Richter <thor@math.tu-berlin.de> - 2011-05-26 20:22 +0200
      Re: Short-circuiting in C Ben Pfaff <blp@cs.stanford.edu> - 2011-05-26 11:35 -0700
        Re: Short-circuiting in C falk@rahul.net (Edward A. Falk) - 2011-05-31 18:45 +0000
          Re: Short-circuiting in C Nizumzen <chicken@mcnuggets.com> - 2011-05-31 20:31 +0100
      Re: Short-circuiting in C Billy Mays <noway@nohow.com> - 2011-05-26 14:51 -0400
        Re: Short-circuiting in C Billy Mays <noway@nohow.com> - 2011-05-26 15:10 -0400
          Re: Short-circuiting in C Billy Mays <noway@nohow.com> - 2011-05-26 21:35 -0400
            Re: Short-circuiting in C Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2011-05-26 23:38 -0700
              Re: Short-circuiting in C Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2011-05-27 09:28 -0400
          Re: Short-circuiting in C falk@rahul.net (Edward A. Falk) - 2011-05-31 19:01 +0000
            Re: Short-circuiting in C falk@rahul.net (Edward A. Falk) - 2011-05-31 19:02 +0000
        Re: Short-circuiting in C Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2011-05-26 12:55 -0700
          Re: Short-circuiting in C Billy Mays <noway@nohow.com> - 2011-05-26 16:17 -0400
            Re: Short-circuiting in C Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-05-26 21:28 -0400
              Re: Short-circuiting in C Seebs <usenet-nospam@seebs.net> - 2011-05-27 05:06 +0000
              Re: Short-circuiting in C Noob <root@127.0.0.1> - 2011-05-27 17:48 +0200
                Re: Short-circuiting in C Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-05-27 21:31 -0400
              Re: Short-circuiting in C blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-05-28 03:28 +0000
                Re: Short-circuiting in C Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-05-27 23:43 -0400
                Re: Short-circuiting in C blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-05-28 19:31 +0000
                Re: Short-circuiting in C Michael Press <rubrum@pacbell.net> - 2011-05-30 00:28 -0700
                Re: Short-circuiting in C BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-05-30 23:08 -0700
                Re: Short-circuiting in C Michael Press <rubrum@pacbell.net> - 2011-05-31 18:30 -0700
                Re: Short-circuiting in C BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-06-02 09:08 -0700
                Re: Short-circuiting in C Nobody <nobody@nowhere.com> - 2011-05-28 14:08 +0100
                Re: Short-circuiting in C BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-05-28 12:52 -0700
              Re: Short-circuiting in C falk@rahul.net (Edward A. Falk) - 2011-05-31 19:22 +0000
                Re: Short-circuiting in C Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-05-31 21:07 -0400
                Re: Short-circuiting in C Dr Nick <3-nospam@temporary-address.org.uk> - 2011-06-11 17:07 +0100
                Re: Short-circuiting in C Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2011-06-11 12:57 -0500
  Re: Short-circuiting in C "Morris Keesan" <mkeesan@post.harvard.edu> - 2011-05-26 14:36 -0400
  Re: Short-circuiting in C "Scott Fluhrer" <sfluhrer@ix.netcom.com> - 2011-05-26 14:39 -0400
    Re: Short-circuiting in C Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2011-05-26 13:28 -0700
      Re: Short-circuiting in C Urist Sethkab <uristqwerty@gmail.com> - 2011-05-26 15:34 -0700
        Re: Short-circuiting in C "Scott Fluhrer" <sfluhrer@ix.netcom.com> - 2011-05-27 10:08 -0400
          Re: Short-circuiting in C Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2011-05-27 07:56 -0700
          Re: Short-circuiting in C Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> - 2011-05-27 20:14 -0700
            Re: Short-circuiting in C Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2011-05-27 20:26 -0700
              Re: Short-circuiting in C Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> - 2011-05-27 20:44 -0700
  Re: Short-circuiting in C Nobody <nobody@nowhere.com> - 2011-05-27 00:06 +0100
    Re: Short-circuiting in C Billy Mays <noway@nohow.com> - 2011-05-26 21:34 -0400
      Re: Short-circuiting in C Nobody <nobody@nowhere.com> - 2011-05-27 07:41 +0100
  Re: Short-circuiting in C Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-05-26 21:21 -0400
  Re: Short-circuiting in C Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2011-05-26 20:41 -0500
    Re: Short-circuiting in C Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2011-05-26 21:03 -0500
      Re: Short-circuiting in C Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2011-05-26 21:37 -0500
  Re: Short-circuiting in C ImpalerCore <jadill33@gmail.com> - 2011-05-27 09:01 -0700
    Re: Short-circuiting in C Willem <willem@toad.stack.nl> - 2011-05-27 16:08 +0000
      Re: Short-circuiting in C ImpalerCore <jadill33@gmail.com> - 2011-05-27 09:46 -0700
        Re: Short-circuiting in C BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-05-28 13:27 -0700
  Re: Short-circuiting in C James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-05-28 09:44 -0400
    Re: Short-circuiting in C Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2011-05-28 12:15 -0700
      Re: Short-circuiting in C James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-05-28 17:07 -0400
  Re: Short-circuiting in C "Herbert Rosenau" <os2guy@pc-rosenau.de> - 2011-05-29 07:25 +0000
  Re: Short-circuiting in C falk@rahul.net (Edward A. Falk) - 2011-05-31 18:40 +0000
    Re: Short-circuiting in C BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-06-02 09:48 -0700
      Re: Short-circuiting in C Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-06-02 21:05 -0400

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