I often see it said that bit masking is faster [1] than other simpler Processing methods. I also read that bit masking is not faster [2], and it comes with disadvantages such as extra lines of code and less clarity.
Is it still true that bit masking is faster in Python mode of Processing? Is there a way to measure and compare the speeds of say float b1 = blue(c) and float b2 = c & 0xFF?
[1]
The blue() function is easy to use and understand, but it is slower than a technique called bit masking. When working in colorMode(RGB, 255), you can achieve the same results as blue() but with greater speed by using a bit mask to remove the other color components. For example, the following two lines of code are equivalent means of getting the blue value of the color value c:
float b1 = blue(c) // Simpler, but slower to calculate
float b2 = c & 0xFF // Very fast to calculate
[2]
Note: Don’t use the bit shift operators as a means of premature optimization in Python. You won’t see a difference in execution speed, but you’ll most definitely make your code less readable.