Efficient C/C++ Programming

Book excerpt: Efficient C/C++ Programming describes a practical, real-world approach to efficient C/C++ programming. Topics covered range from how to save storage using a restricted character set and how to speed up access to records by employing hash coding and caching. A selective mailing list system is used to illustrate rapid access to and rearrangement of information selected by criteria specified at runtime. Comprised of eight chapters, this book begins by discussing factors to consider when deciding whether a program needs optimization. In the next chapter, a supermarket price lookup system is used to illustrate how to save storage by using a restricted character set and how to speed up access to records with the aid of hash coding and caching. Attention is paid to rapid retrieval of prices. A selective mailing list system is then used to illustrate rapid access to and rearrangement of information selected by criteria specified at runtime. The book also considers the Huffman coding and arithmetic coding methods of data compression; a token-threaded interpreter whose code can run faster than equivalent compiled C code, due to its greater code density; a customer database program with variable-length records; and index and key access to variable-length records. The final chapter summarizes the characteristics of the algorithms encountered in previous chapters, as well as the future of the art of optimization. This monograph will be a useful resource for practicing computer programmers and those who intend to be working programmers.