Re: [boost] Google SoC 2007 Big Integer project

From: Mathias Gaunard (mathias.gaunard_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-03-23 12:01:51

Marco wrote:

> (4) decide if we have to use exception handling C++ constructs for  
> arithmetic exceptions ( divide by zero, etc) or simply abort the program;  
> this is essentially a matter of performance;

I didn't know aborting the program was more efficient than throwing an 
exception.

Why not just invoke undefined behaviour if that allows the best efficiency?

> (10) about fixed size big integer I had tought to something like this:
> template< unsigned int N > class big_int; where N are the number of bits  
> which have to be used;

That could even be used to have portable types with a fixed size, since 
it can fall back to an existing type.

However, the ability to choose the size at runtime would also be needed.

> Question : is it possible to get good performance without implement the  
> basic algorithms in assembler ?

I think some implementations don't use assembler and are quite efficient.
Assembler is only a bonus.