Thread: slow std::string?

  1. #1
    Carnivore ('-'v) Hunter2's Avatar
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    Question slow std::string?

    Hey guys, I'm just bored sitting in a comp apps class, and I thought of something (just a passing curiosity). Are std::string's very slow compared to simple char*'s?
    Code:
    std::string str = "String";
    int res = strcmp(str.c_str(), "ABCD");
    
    char* str2[] = "String";  //Much faster, or neglible?
    int res2 = strcmp(str2, "ABCD");
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  2. #2
    Confused Magos's Avatar
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    Since it's a class instead of a base type - Yes, they are slower.
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  3. #3
    Hardware Engineer
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    Hey, why don't you make a loop and see how many times each of these executes in... say... one second?

  4. #4
    cgoat
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    Only the initialization you gave will be different:

    std::string str = "String"; // Allocates storage and copies the data

    char* str2 = "String"; // Just sets the pointer

    Obviously, the copy takes longer.

    Calling c_str() for strcmp has one slight extra thing where it terminates the string before returning the pointer. It's negligible. However, you should really just do str == "ABCD" to test it.

    One advantage to the string class is that it usually uses reference counting, so doing s1 = s2 with the string class does not require a copy until one of them is changed, whereas a strcpy(s1, s2) with char* would do the copy.

  5. #5
    Carnivore ('-'v) Hunter2's Avatar
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    Heh, Magos, I sort of knew that already (I'm not COMPLETELY new to c++...). But, I actually meant are they *much* slower, as in 2X, 3X, 4X, 100X more time needed? Heh, but I guess I'll just give DougDbug's suggestion a shot, I should be able to come up with a few numbers of my own that way.

    Also, cgoat, thanks for the tips. I passed str.c_str() as an argument to a function (not strcmp() in the actual program), though, so... watever But I never knew about the reference counting, thanks for pointing that out
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  6. #6
    Open to suggestions Brighteyes's Avatar
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    >But, I actually meant are they *much* slower, as in 2X, 3X, 4X, 100X more time needed?
    If std::string weren't fast enough to compete with manual C strings then why would everyone use them? Unless your compiler is truly old and has an awful string implementation, you'll find that std::string is as fast or faster than your own C strings due to reference counting and optimized operations.
    p.s. What the alphabet would look like without q and r.

  7. #7
    Confused Magos's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Brighteyes
    If std::string weren't fast enough to compete with manual C strings then why would everyone use them?
    Simpliness! Ask yourself this, why do people use Visual basic instead of C? Because it's faster? Or at least as fast? Hah!
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  8. #8
    Carnivore ('-'v) Hunter2's Avatar
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    Hmm, so std::string's are slower, not by too much, but easier to use. So would the speed gain be worth the un-readability and trouble of changing every std::string in a program to using c strings instead? Or is it a matter of how they're used and with what frequency they are used?
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  9. #9
    Open to suggestions Brighteyes's Avatar
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    >Simpliness! Ask yourself this, why do people use Visual basic instead of C? Because it's faster? Or at least as fast? Hah!
    Your example doesn't make sense. Visual Basic wasn't designed to compete with C in speed, so one shouldn't expect it to. C++, on the other hand, has maintained at most a 5% difference in performance when compared to C. This was one of the highest priority goals in the design of C++. std::string was designed to replace error prone and difficult to use dynamic C strings. Of course this is faster than using std::string:
    Code:
    char* p = "Some string";
    It's a simple pointer assignment, but if you start out with a pointer and intend to use new/delete with it and resize the strings it contains before you're done then you'll find it difficult to beat std::string in performance.

    >So would the speed gain be worth the un-readability and trouble of changing every std::string in a program to using c strings instead?
    Probably not. You want your code to be as simple as possible. If it turns out to be a performance bottleneck later on you can optimize as needed.
    p.s. What the alphabet would look like without q and r.

  10. #10
    Carnivore ('-'v) Hunter2's Avatar
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    Hmm, then in that case, it would seem that it is something like visual basic vs. c++, except that it is very much closer in speed. Strings are easier to use, but c-strings have the potential, if properly and painstakingly used, to be faster and more powerful Yes, the analogy still stands, although it doesn't really matter at this point to me. I'm too lazy to use c strings anyways
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  11. #11
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    Originally posted by Hunter2
    Hmm, then in that case, it would seem that it is something like visual basic vs. c++, except that it is very much closer in speed. Strings are easier to use, but c-strings have the potential, if properly and painstakingly used, to be faster and more powerful Yes, the analogy still stands, although it doesn't really matter at this point to me. I'm too lazy to use c strings anyways
    Greetings,

    c-strings faster than std::string? I doub't it, std::strings will often be as fast as c-strings and in some circumstances even faster. They become less efficient when frequent reallocations occur, but carefully planning and using std::string properly can help eliminate these instances.
    c-strings more powerfull than std::strings? Not a chance!

  12. #12
    Carnivore ('-'v) Hunter2's Avatar
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    Hmm, well, in this case:
    Code:
    struct bunchOfParams
    {
         //lots of other stuff
    #ifdef CHARSTAR
         char* promptString;
    #else
         std::string promptString;
    #endif
    };
    
    void function2(const char* str)
    {
         //do stuff with str
    }
    
    void function(bunchOfParams bop)
    {
    #ifdef CHARSTAR
         function2(bop.promptString);
    #else
         function2(bop.promptString.c_str());
    #endif
    }
    
    int main()
    {
         bunchOfParams bop;
         memset(&bop,0,sizeof(bop));
         bop.promptString = "This is the prompt.";
         function(bop);
         return 0;
    }
    In this case, would the string or char* be faster? This is a lot closer to the actual situation in my program, and I thought the char* would be faster although I used a std::string just for the heck of it.
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  13. #13
    Open to suggestions Brighteyes's Avatar
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    >In this case, would the string or char* be faster?
    Is there a performance problem with std::strings? If not then why are you even bothering to find out which is faster? Such micro optimization is counter-productive since it's usually not needed. The best advice is to use whatever results in the simplest and cleanest code, then if you have speed problems you should profile the program and find out where the bottleneck is, then fix that part and check for any more bottlenecks.
    p.s. What the alphabet would look like without q and r.

  14. #14
    Cat without Hat CornedBee's Avatar
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    Never memset the memory of a class!!!
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

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  15. #15
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    I've written my own string class, and compared that with std::string... I find it pretty hard to beat performance of the std::string... For some operations: yes, but overall? no way... If anyone have, let me know

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