Is shifting bits faster than multiplying and divid

Question

Shifting bits left and right is apparently faster than multiplication and division operations on most, maybe even all, CPUs if you happen to be using a power of 2. However, it can reduce the clarity of code for some readers and some algorithms. Is bit-shifting really necessary for performance, or can I expect the compiler or VM to notice the case and optimize it (in particular, when the power-of-2 is a literal)? I am mainly interested in the Java and .NET behavior but welcome insights into other language implementations as well.

Answer 1

Almost any environment worth its salt will optimize this away for you. And if it doesn't, you've got bigger fish to fry. Seriously, do not waste one more second thinking about this. You will know when you have performance problems. And after you run a profiler, you will know what is causing it, and it should be fairly clear how to fix it.

You will never hear anyone say "my application was too slow, then I started randomly replacing x * 2 with x << 1 and everything was fixed!" Performance problems are generally solved by finding a way to do an order of magnitude less work, not by finding a way to do the same work 1% faster.