Article # 351, added by Geoworks, historical record
| first | previous | index | next | last |

Bitmaps versus gstrings/drawing routines.



Q. To draw a small icon, is it faster to call drawing routines, or
   use a bitmap? If bitmaps are better, how do I create one?

A. It depends on the type of bitmap (simple or huge/complex), the
   specific Graphics routines you're using, and the dimensions of
   the graphic. There are other considerations besides speed, too--
   large bitmaps generally take up a lot of space compared to
   gstrings.

   You could test out your specific case by timing how long it takes
   to draw, say, 100 copies of the graphic in your app. This should
   exaggerate any speed difference to where it's readily apparent
   which one is faster. It would be hard to guess in advance.