Branch on ?: operator?

Question

For a typical modern compiler on modern hardware, will the ? : operator result in a branch that affects the instruction pipeline?

In other words which i

Answer 1

Depends on the platform. Specifically, it depends on the size of jump prediction table of the CPU and whether the CPU allows conditional operations (like on ARM).

CPUs with conditional operations will strongly favor the second case. CPUs with bigger jump prediction tables will favor the first case.

The real answer (like with any other performance questions): measure and compare. Sometimes the rest of the code throws a curve ball and it's usually impossible to predict effects of some changes.