XOR Swap still viable algorithm?

[ShawnCplus]

As the title says: Is the XOR Swap algorithm still viable? I know that temp-swaps are supposedly faster but the shear coolness of an XOR swap makes it more attractive to me. What do you guys/gals think?

For anyone that doesn't know what an XOR swap is here goes

int first = 10;
int second = 5;
cout<<"First: "<< first <<"\nSecond: "<< second << endl;
// XOR Swap
first ^= sec;
sec ^= fir;
fir ^= sec;
// Values are now switched
cout<<"First: "<< first <<"\nSecond: "<< second << endl;

It also works with a char array

cout<<"  XOR Swap"<< endl;
  cout<<"Before Swap:"<< endl;
  
  char x[6] = "shawn";
  char y[6] = "cplus";
  
  cout<<"X: "<< x << endl;
  cout<<"Y: "<< y << endl;
  // XOR Swap
  for(int i=0;i<7;i++)
          x[i]= x[i] ^ y[i];
  for(int i=0;i<7;i++)
          y[i]= x[i] ^ y[i];
  for(int i=0;i<7;i++)
          x[i]= x[i] ^ y[i];
  
  cout<<"\nAfter Swap:"<< endl;
  cout<<"X: "<< x << endl;
  cout<<"Y: "<< y << endl;

[Ancient Dragon]

>>What do you guys/gals think
I hate it because it does nothing more than obfuscate the program. Maintainability and readability are more important than cuteness.

[vijayan121]

the xor swap algorithm fails if you try to swap a variable with itself.
other swap algorithms using arithmetic operators fail if overflow or underflow occurs.
the correct way to swap two variables a and b of any type is std::swap(a,b). we would expect std::swap to be correct and to have the most efficient implementation possible for that type.
to me, std::swap is the coolest of the lot.

[mcldev]

XOR is a assembler command. So... it executes very fast. Inside of C++ or worse C#, it will be a translation but you in C++, at least it will translate directly.

Compared to swapping by using 3 variables, this is akin to MOV operations on the processor which are generally more expensive than XOR operations.

But here's the deal by the time you program in C++ using XOR is not recommended unless you are performing special bitwise operations. The newer safer functions are highly optimized and can get the swapping job done more easily (less code).

[0dark]

As said before XoR fails if you try to swap a variable with itself. Not only that but it also fails if you try to swap variables with the same value. Try it and you'll see.

I personally use std:: Swap(a,b) even though I think it's slower..

Sorry, didn't read the rules before posting. u.u

[pocky]

uhm...

x = 10
y = 10
x = x ^ y # x => 0
y = x ^ y # y => 10
x = x ^ y # x => 10
puts "#{x}, #{y}" # => 10, 10

swapping two of the same values doesn't fail...

[arkoenig]

Compared to swapping by using 3 variables, this is akin to MOV operations on the processor which are generally more expensive than XOR operations.

Really? Why do you think so?

An assignment requires one fetch and one store. An XOR requires two fetches, one store, and the XOR operation itself. So why do you think that three XOR operations would be faster than three assignments?