Originally posted by Hunter2
Omnius, the question has already been thoroughly explored, down to the very assembly-level representation of it. Well, "an assembly-level representation" would be more accurate, but that doesn't matter. For more information, read Prelude's post.

Summary:
a) It doesn't really matter. Use whatever you like.

b) If you DO care which is faster for some absurd reason:
->Case I - there IS a difference:
It still doesn't matter unless you know assembly, since you won't be able to figure it out otherwise.
->Case II - there ISN'T a difference:
It really, truly, absolutely, exhaustively doesn't matter, because there's no difference.

c) If you DON'T care, please refer to (a).

Conclusion:
It doesn't really matter.

~~The End~~
Thanks Hunter2. Some of us may still have an interest in the points discussed in the thread and don't consider it absurd to do so.

Cheers,
Omni.