Function select_unpredictable

pub fn select_unpredictable<T>(condition: bool, true_val: T, false_val: T) -> T

🔬This is a nightly-only experimental API. (select_unpredictable #133962)

Returns either true_val or false_val depending on the value of condition, with a hint to the compiler that condition is unlikely to be correctly predicted by a CPU’s branch predictor.

This method is functionally equivalent to

fn select_unpredictable<T>(b: bool, true_val: T, false_val: T) -> T {
    if b { true_val } else { false_val }
}

but might generate different assembly. In particular, on platforms with a conditional move or select instruction (like cmov on x86 or csel on ARM) the optimizer might use these instructions to avoid branches, which can benefit performance if the branch predictor is struggling with predicting condition, such as in an implementation of binary search.

Note however that this lowering is not guaranteed (on any platform) and should not be relied upon when trying to write cryptographic constant-time code. Also be aware that this lowering might decrease performance if condition is well-predictable. It is advisable to perform benchmarks to tell if this function is useful.

Examples

Distribute values evenly between two buckets:

#![feature(select_unpredictable)]

use std::hash::BuildHasher;
use std::hint;

fn append<H: BuildHasher>(hasher: &H, v: i32, bucket_one: &mut Vec<i32>, bucket_two: &mut Vec<i32>) {
    let hash = hasher.hash_one(&v);
    let bucket = hint::select_unpredictable(hash % 2 == 0, bucket_one, bucket_two);
    bucket.push(v);
}