Standard way to supply hints to branches

[Quirin Schroll]

On Friday, 23 August 2024 at 07:33:53 UTC, Dom DiSc wrote:
> On Friday, 23 August 2024 at 01:47:37 UTC, Manu wrote:
>> How can we add an attribute to the branch condition that the 
>> backend can take advantage of? I think it needs to be in the 
>> language spec...
>
> I always arrange it so, that the if-path is the likely one, and 
> the else path is the unlikely one.

As if anyone can remember that.

> This also makes the code more readable,

Absolutely not. Early returns for unlikely-but-valid input like 
null pointers makes sense to me. Other than that, there’s `if 
(...) throw ...;`, but basically all optimizers recognize this as 
an unlikely path.

> and it is always possible to do so.

Technically yes, but it makes some code harder to understand.

> The compiler should optimize accordingly. No further indication 
> should be necessary.

This is your style, and IMO it’s a bad style.