Array indexing vs. pointers...

[value]

In article <225800077 at uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>, mcdonald at uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
> If you have a simple task (as most of mine are)
> like drawing a bunch of circles and ellipses and moving them around
> the screen fast, use a simple tool. Write your own tool to draw ellipses
> direct to the screen - direct to the hardware.

Noooooooooooo! Don't go around a windowing system, particularly a multitasking
windowing system like Microsoft Windows (or Amiga Intuition), unless you
absolutely have to and are willing to emulate the layer protection for
partially obscured bitmaps. I don't know about Windows, but I once tried
going around Intuition -- in a place where it was safe to -- and found only
a minimal improvement at the cost of much convenience. I would expect safe
places in Windows to be even less common, since it doesn't have a 'screens'
concept.

Before you do anything like this, TRY IT THE OBVIOUS WAY. If it's too slow,
try to cut down on your redraws. I was able to get adequate speed from the
PC's BIOS just by doing some curses-type display optimisation. Then if it's
still too slow you can go straight to the bitmaps.
-- 
Peter da Silva  `-_-'  Ferranti International Controls Corporation.
"Have you hugged  U  your wolf today?"            peter at ficc.uu.net