Java: Performance of Enums vs. if-then-else

Question

I've had no real luck getting a concise answer for this comparison by using Google and rather than do my own time consuming evaluations, I thought I would ask first.

I'm fairly sure that a switch statement using Enums would perform faster than an if-then-else statement, though whether or not it is a noticable difference is another question.

Could someone shed some light on this for me?

---

Thanks for the quick responses guys, I will keep this in mind for future projects.

Answer 1

Yeap, it does, because in general term a switch statement works faster than if/else chain.

Although bytecode generated is not always definitive source for performance comparisons you can examine it to have a better idea.

For instance this code:

class A { 
    enum N { ONE, TWO, THREE }
    void testSwitch( N e ) { 
        switch( e ) { 
            case ONE : x(); break;
            case TWO : x(); break;
            case THREE : x(); break;
        }
    }
    void testIf( Enum e ) { 
        if( e == N.ONE ) { x(); }
        else if( e == N.TWO ) { x(); }
        else if( e == N.THREE ) { x(); }
    }
    void x(){}
}

Generates the following:

Compiled from "A.java"
class A extends java.lang.Object{
A();
  Code:
   0:   aload_0
   1:   invokespecial   #1; //Method java/lang/Object."<init>":()V
   4:   return

void testSwitch(A$N);
  Code:
   0:   getstatic   #2; //Field A$1.$SwitchMap$A$N:[I
   3:   aload_1
   4:   invokevirtual   #3; //Method A$N.ordinal:()I
   7:   iaload
   8:   tableswitch{ //1 to 3
        1: 36;
        2: 43;
        3: 50;
        default: 54 }
   36:  aload_0
   37:  invokevirtual   #4; //Method x:()V
   40:  goto    54
   43:  aload_0
   44:  invokevirtual   #4; //Method x:()V
   47:  goto    54
   50:  aload_0
   51:  invokevirtual   #4; //Method x:()V
   54:  return

void testIf(java.lang.Enum);
  Code:
   0:   aload_1
   1:   getstatic   #5; //Field A$N.ONE:LA$N;
   4:   if_acmpne   14
   7:   aload_0
   8:   invokevirtual   #4; //Method x:()V
   11:  goto    39
   14:  aload_1
   15:  getstatic   #6; //Field A$N.TWO:LA$N;
   18:  if_acmpne   28
   21:  aload_0
   22:  invokevirtual   #4; //Method x:()V
   25:  goto    39
   28:  aload_1
   29:  getstatic   #7; //Field A$N.THREE:LA$N;
   32:  if_acmpne   39
   35:  aload_0
   36:  invokevirtual   #4; //Method x:()V
   39:  return

void x();
  Code:
   0:   return

}

Which seems to be pretty fast in both cases.

So, pick the one that is easier to maintain.