If section 1 is about bridging your knowledge of C and C++ backwards to assembly language, how the heck do jump tables fit in?
Jump tables are one key way in which switch statements work. In this
chapter we'll explore three ways in which switch statements are
very very clever.
Naively, you might imagine all switch statements are implemented as
long chains of if / else constructions. This is the case often, for
small switch statements or where the case values have no or little
pattern with few if any values being consecutive.
The long chain of if / else isn't covered here. Instead see the
section on if statements.
When the C++ optimizer is enabled, it will look at your cases and
choose between three different constructs for implementing your
switch.
-
It may emit a long string of
if / elseconstructs. -
It may find the right
caseusing a binary search. -
Finally, it might use a jump table.
And, it can use any combination of the above! Compiler writers are smart!
Suppose our cases are largely consecutive. Given that all branch instructions are the same length in bytes, we can do math on the switch variable to somehow derive the address of the case we want.
For example, take the following C / C++ code:
# include <stdlib.h> // 1
# include <stdio.h> // 2
# include <time.h> // 3
// 4
int main() // 5
{ // 6
int r; // 7
// 8
srand(time(0)); // 9
r = rand() & 7; // 10
switch (r) // 11
{ // 12
case 0: // 13
puts("0 returned"); // 14
break; // 15
// 16
case 1: // 17
puts("1 returned"); // 18
break; // 19
// 20
case 2: // 21
puts("2 returned"); // 22
break; // 23
// 24
case 3: // 25
puts("3 returned"); // 26
break; // 27
// 28
case 4: // 29
puts("4 returned"); // 30
break; // 31
// 32
case 5: // 33
puts("5 returned"); // 34
break; // 35
// 36
case 6: // 37
puts("6 returned"); // 38
break; // 39
// 40
case 7: // 41
puts("7 returned"); // 42
break; // 43
} // 44
return 0; // 45
} // 46When run, the program will calculate a random number from 0 to 7. Then,
using this value, it will enter a switch statement with cases for
values 0 through 7. The appropriate case will be executed.
Notice that the case values are all, in this case, consecutive.
Why bother going through the sequential search of chained if / else
statements when we can gain direct access to the case we want?
What about this block of code?
jt: b 0f
b 1f
b 2f
b 3f
b 4f
b 5f
b 6f
b 7f
At address jt there are a sequence of branch statements... jumps if
you will. Being in a sequence, this is an example of a jump table.
We'll compute the index into this array of instructions and then
branch to it.
AARCH64 makes it easy for us since all instructions are the same length,
4 bytes. Suppose our random number were 3. We'd calculate 3 time 4
yielding 12. At 12 bytes from label jt we'll find the fourth branch
in the table. If we branch to that address, we'll land on this
instruction: b 3f which in turn jumps us to the case for the value of
3.
Let's examine this code assuming that our number between 0 and 7
inclusive is already in x0:
lsl x0, x0, 2 // 1
ldr x1, =jt // 2
add x1, x1, x0 // 3
br x1 // 4
Line 1 multiplies our number by 4 by shifting it left by 2 bits. Shifting is a fast way of multiplying by powers of 2. We're doing this because each branch instruction in the jump table is exactly 4 bytes long.
Line 2 loads the base address of the "instruction array" starting at
address jt.
Line 3 adds the two values together putting the result in x1. This
register now contains the address of one of the branch instructions
found at label jt.
Line 4 stands for branch using register. It loads the program
counter with the value found in x1.
We land on one of the unconditional branches which immediately causes
us to land on the code for the case we want.
Here is a complete program demonstrating this.
The program also hints at a further optimization that works with this code only because the length of the code for each case is the same. The hinted at optimization would NOT work if the code in each case were different lengths.
If there is no break following the code for a case, control will
simply fall through to the next case.
Here is a snippet from the program linked just above.
0: ldr x0, =ZR // 1
bl puts // 2
b 99f // 3
// 4
1: ldr x0, =ON // 5
bl puts // 6
b 99f // 7
If we wanted case 0 to fall through into case 1, simply remove line 3. Then, landing at the 0 case, we execute lines 1 and 2 and happily continue on to the next case.
In our example, we present 8 consecutive cases. What if there was no code for case 4? In other words, what if case 4 simply didn't exist?
Thinking naively, this would seem to screw up our nice little approach
we have going on. Does this doom us to a chain of if / else?
Nope.
When we're using a jump table that has gaps here and there, just implement stubs for the missing cases. Here's an example... let's model this strategy with a missing case 4.
2: ldr x0, =TW
bl puts
b 99f
3: ldr x0, =TH
bl puts
b 99f
4: b 99f
5: ldr x0, =FV
bl puts
b 99f
Our jump table remains the same.
As indicated above, an optimizer has at least three tools available to
it to implement complex switch statements. And, it can combine these
tools.
For example, suppose your cases boil down to two ranges of fairly
consecutive values. For example, you have cases 0 to 9 and also cases
50 to 59. You can implement this as two jump tables with an if / else
to select which one you use.
Suppose you have a large switch statement with widely ranging case
values. In this case, you can implement a binary search to narrow down
to a small range in which another technique becomes viable to narrow
down to a single case.
You might have need to implement hierarchical jump tables, for example.
This sounds complicated but it isn't given some thought.
With some thought you can avoid long chains of if / else.
If you do choose to implement a long chain of if / else statements,
consider how frequently a given case might be chosen. Put the most
common cases at the top of the if / else sequence.
This is known as making the common case fast.
Making the common case fast is one of the Great Ideas in Computer Science. One, you would do well to remember no matter what language you're working with.