I have tested performance of std::string compare methods and get strange results. With -O2 optimization std::string::compare 30 times faster then operator==. With -Os optimization operator== 5 times faster then std::string::compare. Is this bug or feature? Full table (time for 10000000 comparisons in seconds): -O0 -O1 -O2 -O3 -Os compare 1.069 1.057 0.029 0.025 1.072 operator== 0.461 0.990 0.980 1.022 0.201 g++ (Debian 4.3.4-6) 4.3.4. Test code attached.
#include <iostream> const char *kStr = "Some Text. Date 09.04.2011. Time 12:32. Code A0."; bool compare(const std::string &str) { std::string test(kStr); bool result = true; for (int i = 0; i < 10000000; i++) { //result &= str.compare(test) == 0; result &= str == test; } return result; } int main() { std::string str(kStr); if (!compare(str)) { std::cout << "Failed" << std::endl; } return 0; }