The implementation makes use of the freedom added by LWG 3410. We have
two variants of this algorithm:
- a fast path for random access iterators: This fast path computes the maximum number of loop iterations up-front and does not compare the iterators against their limits on every loop iteration.
- A basic implementation for all other iterators: This implementation compares the iterators against their limits in every loop iteration. However, it still takes advantage of the freedom added by LWG 3410 to avoid unnecessary additional iterator comparisons, as originally specified by P1614R2.
https://godbolt.org/z/7xbMEen5e shows the benefit of the fast path:
The hot loop generated of lexicographical_compare_three_way3 is
more tight than for lexicographical_compare_three_way1. The added
benchmark illustrates how this leads to a 30% performance improvement on
integer vectors.
Implements part of P1614R2 "The Mothership has Landed"
Fixes LWG 3410 and LWG 3350
I wouldn't bother with that. We test internal stuff as well in other benchmarks.
If we want to make them usable with other stdlibs, I think we'd need to spend some time making that work.