Comparison operator performance (>, >=, <, <=)

Question

If you were to compare two integers, would the operator have an impact on the time required to perform the comparison? For example, given:

if (x < 60)


        

Answer 1

There is almost certainly no difference in performance. For CISC processors, you'll typically have all manner of branch instructions that cope with all the difference < <= > >= etc. On RISC there may be a very small performance difference although I'd seriously doubt it!

Answer 2

Even if there was noticeable difference, I think compilers are smart enough to care for such things. So my advice is to use what makes the code easier to understand, and leave micro-optimizations to the compiler.

Answer 3

In the specific example you gave where one side is constant, I'd expect an optimizer to transform one to the other if it was significantly faster.

Answer 4

The differences are negligible. Theoretically they could be language dependent.

As another answer mentioned, they are also theoretically platform dependent.

See: Is the inequality operator faster than the equality operator?