Summary

In this chapter, we have explored the second of the main areas of C++ efficiency: helping the compiler generate more efficient code.

The goal of this book is to arm you with the understanding of the interaction between your code, the computer, and the compiler so that you can make these determinations with good judgment and solid understanding.

The easiest way to help the compiler optimize your code is to follow the general rules of thumb for effective optimization, many of which are also rules of good design: minimize the interfaces and interactions between different sections of the code, organize the code into blocks, functions, and modules, each of which has simple logic and well-defined interface boundaries, avoid global variables and other hidden interactions, and so on. The fact that these are also best design practices is not coincidental: generally, code that is easy for a programmer to read is also easy for the compiler to analyze.

More advanced optimizations...