which is faster? DWORD or WORD?
well, you see, intel processors access datas in the memory in 32 bit size, so, if i use WORD which is an 8 bit, would it slow it down? or is it faster?
because if it doesn't have any effect, then i would be able to save a little bit of memory by using WORD instead of DWORD if i don't need those very large value,
many thanks!
Slow down there buddy. Here is the deal. First off a DWORD is an unsigned long (32-bit) and a WORD is an unsigned short (16-bit). Read this carefully so you don't get lost. Your processor is probably a 32-bit processor. For your 32-processor, you can attain maximum speed if you were to make all of your calls to the processor with 32-bit data streams. However, when you need to make operations (such as multipication and division) on a 32-bit number your processor (and/or math co-processor) is going to have to maintain larger numbers. A WORD times a WORD will be less expensive than a DWORD times a WORD. Also, on a side note.
thanks!,
is there any other things that i should know?
how about you, are you going to store everything in DWORD if you're not going to make any mul/div on them?
Sole DWORDs would be useful only in time crucial operations. I use words and bytes extensively and do not care about speed when I do not need it.
Read this carefully so you don't get lost. 16-bit prefix.Originally posted by master5001
[B]Read this carefully so you don't get lost
