How efficient is std::string compared to null-terminated strings?

Question

I\'ve discovered that std::strings are very slow compared to old-fashioned null-terminated strings, so much slow that they significantly slow down my overall pr

Answer 1

std::string will always be slower than C-strings. C-strings are simply a linear array of memory. You cannot get any more efficient than that, simply as a data structure. The algorithms you use (like strcat() or strcpy()) are generally equivalent to the STL counterparts. The class instantiation and method calls will be, in relative terms, significantly slower than C-string operations (even worse if the implementation uses virtuals). The only way you could get equivalent performance is if the compiler does optimization.