On 07/19/2010 03:09 PM, Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
Take the redblack tree node for instance. Get rid of the pad byte, and it's tuned for word-size payload. But go over that, and you're back to pretty much wasting 50% of your memory.
I think this characterization is a bit inaccurate because it suggests that there are gains only for one-word payloads. I think the truth is that there are gain for several payloads. Their relative value decreases with the size of the payload.
Long story short - the less slack (byte of overhead, bool for red/black information), the better (in various quanta and of various values).
Andrei
