在静态分配的数组中进行访问VS通过指向静态分配的数组的指针进行访问

Question

I need to store number of strings(they will remain constant and will not be modified), in an array, and access them many times,we want to achieve as fast as possible lookup. Which of the below will give faster access:

Approach 1:

const char* string_literal[] = {"Test1","Dummy","Dummy","Test2","Test3","Dummy"}; //       storing as string literals
... ... ... ...
... ... ... ...
const char* string_literal1000[]= {"Beta1","Beta2","Beta3"};

Approach 2:

const char test1ptr[] = "Test1",
const char test2ptr[] = "Test2",
const char test3ptr[] = "Test3",
const char dummyptr[] = "Dummy",


const char* string_ptr1 [] = {test1ptr,dummyptr,dummyptr,test2ptr,test3ptr,dummyptr}; // storing as pointers
... ... ...
const char* string_ptr1000[] = {"Beta1","Beta2","Beta3"};

Or; is it Approach1 and Approach 2 will result in same performance?

Note:

1. I will have around 1000 of records(eg string_ptr1,sting_ptr2 etc. or string_literal1,string_literl2 etc.) conating on average 20 strings(eg"test1",test2" etc..
2. "Dummy" will appear only with few records.

Answer 1

string_literal1000 wouldn't compile.

Simple answer: say same performance (since the allocation pattern is identical).

However it is kind of funny that you want us to compare speeds, while you're not even showing your usage pattern(s).

Now all that said, I can imagine situations where you could optimize a little with the following pattern: IFF you know the length of the largest entry (they seem rather small), you could optimize the whole table by packing it into a single char[], containing the individual strings aligned and padded at a nice number of bytes (say 16, or 32 for the strings shown in the OP).

Without further info on the actual code scenario's, it would be wrong to recommend such an approach (IMO).