On 32-bit CPUs, is an 'integer' type more efficient than a 'short' type?

Question

On a 32-bit CPU, an integer is 4 bytes and a short integer is 2 bytes. If I am writing a C/C++ application that uses many numeric values that will always fit within the pro

Answer 1

If you're using "many" integer values, the bottleneck in your processing is liable to be bandwidth to memory. 16 bit integers pack more tightly into the data cache, and would therefore be a performance win.

If you are number crunching on a very large amount of data, you should read What Every Programmer Should Know About Memory by Ulrich Drepper. Concentrate on chapter 6, about maximizing the efficiency of the data cache.