So, I am trying to see if there is any difference between using a jump table of function pointers versus a switch statements for performing many, one command operations like these.
This is the code to assembly link i made
Here is my actual code as well
enum code {
ADD,
SUB,
MUL,
DIV,
REM
};
typedef struct {
int val;
} Value;
typedef struct {
enum code ins;
int operand;
} Op;
void run(Value* arg, Op* func)
{
switch(func->ins)
{
case ADD: arg->val += func->operand; break;
case SUB: arg->val -= func->operand; break;
case MUL: arg->val *= func->operand; break;
case DIV: arg->val /= func->operand; break;
case REM: arg->val %= func->operand; break;
}
}
My question is, based on the generated assembly in that link or the code, would there be any difference from making a bunch of small functions to complete the operations in the cases of the switch statement, and making an array of pointers to those functions and calling them with the same enum?
Using gcc x86_64 7.1
void add(Value* arg, Op* func)
{
arg->val += func->operand;
}
static void (*jmptable)(Value*, Op*)[] = {
&add
}
Assembly code paste:
run(Value*, Op*):
push rbp
mov rbp, rsp
mov QWORD PTR [rbp-8], rdi
mov QWORD PTR [rbp-16], rsi
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-16]
mov eax, DWORD PTR [rax]
cmp eax, 4
ja .L9
mov eax, eax
mov rax, QWORD PTR .L4[0+rax*8]
jmp rax
.L4:
.quad .L3
.quad .L5
.quad .L6
.quad .L7
.quad .L8
.L3:
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov edx, DWORD PTR [rax]
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-16]
mov eax, DWORD PTR [rax+4]
add edx, eax
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov DWORD PTR [rax], edx
jmp .L2
.L5:
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov edx, DWORD PTR [rax]
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-16]
mov eax, DWORD PTR [rax+4]
sub edx, eax
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov DWORD PTR [rax], edx
jmp .L2
.L6:
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov edx, DWORD PTR [rax]
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-16]
mov eax, DWORD PTR [rax+4]
imul edx, eax
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov DWORD PTR [rax], edx
jmp .L2
.L7:
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov eax, DWORD PTR [rax]
mov rdx, QWORD PTR [rbp-16]
mov esi, DWORD PTR [rdx+4]
cdq
idiv esi
mov edx, eax
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov DWORD PTR [rax], edx
jmp .L2
.L8:
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov eax, DWORD PTR [rax]
mov rdx, QWORD PTR [rbp-16]
mov ecx, DWORD PTR [rdx+4]
cdq
idiv ecx
mov rax, QWORD PTR [rbp-8]
mov DWORD PTR [rax], edx
nop
.L2:
.L9:
nop
pop rbp
ret
A catchall answer to all these questions: you should measure.
Practically though, I'm betting on the switch version. Function calls have overhead (and they can be hardly inlined in this context), which you could eliminate with labels as values, which is a common compiler extension*, but you should really try all your options and measure if the performance of this piece of code matters to you greatly.
Otherwise, use whatever's most convenient to you.
*a switch is likely to generate a jump table equivalent to what you could compose from labels as values but it could switch between different implementations depending on the particular case values and their number