Re: std::string and std::ostringstream performances

From:
"Alf P. Steinbach" <alfps@start.no>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:37:03 +0100
Message-ID:
<13iji3idviir6f6@corp.supernews.com>
* James Kanze:

On Oct 31, 10:55 pm, Erik Wikstr?m <Erik-wikst...@telia.com> wrote:

    [...]

I do not know, and I do not think the standard says anything
about it. But a good implementation will probably use a
resizing scheme similar to the one used for vectors, such as
(at least) doubling the capacity every time it resizes.


Doubling is actually not a very good strategy; multiplying by
say 1.5 is considerably better. (As a general rule, the
multiplier should be less that (1+sqrt(5))/2---about 1.6. 1.5
is close enough, and easy to calculate.) In memory tight
situations, of course, the multiplier should be even smaller.

The original STL implementation did use 2, and I suspect that
many implementations still do, even though we now know that it
isn't such a good idea.


Could you elaborate, specifically on where the golden ratio enters the
picture?

It seems like a number drawn out of thin air, like e.g. a factor 1.7 for
a hash table.

Generally it's an optimization question, and the answer for optimization
is to measure if it matters.

Cheers,

- Alf

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