Most efficient way to draw lines from array of points in cocos2d - objective-c

Given an NSMutableArray of dynamic CGPoints, what is the fastest and most efficient way to draw lines from array[0] to array[1], array[1] to array[2], etc.? Should I rewrite my function in C or C++ for better performance? Currently my framerate suffers dramatically when there are more than ~20 points in the array. I am using cocos2d v2.0.0-rc2 and I currently have:
-(void)draw
{
for (int i = 0; i < [points count]; i+=2)
{
CGPoint startFromArray = [[points objectAtIndex:i] CGPointValue];
CGPoint endFromArray = [[points objectAtIndex:i+1] CGPointValue];
ccDrawLine(startFromArray, endFromArray);
}
[super draw];
}

There's no need to use iteration here. Cocos2d has a built-in function called ccDrawPoly(). You can use it like this:
CGPoint *verts = malloc(sizeof(CGPoint) * [points count]);
for (int i = 0; i < [points count]; i++) {
verts[i] = [[points objectAtIndex:i] CGPointValue];
}
ccDrawPoly(verts, [points count], NO);
free(verts);
Obviously, you'll get even better performance if you store your CGPoints in a C array instead of boxing and unboxing them from NSValues, but if you really need the mutability, that can't be helped.
As for the third argument of ccDrawPoly(), setting it to YES will connect the start and end points of the array, making a closed polygon, while using NO will just make a bunch of open lines.

Related

dispatch_apply gives incorrect output data

I have two arrays: array1 and array2. Each object of arrays is an array too (2D arrays). In this way I multiple them. So how I have big arrays I use dispatch_apply. Every time i receive different results include a right result. Maybe somebody knows how to fix it?
dispatch_apply([array2 count], queue, ^(size_t j)
{
k = 0;
for (int l = 0; l < [[array1 objectAtIndex:0] count]; l++) {
k += [[[array1 objectAtIndex:i] objectAtIndex:l] intValue] *
[[[array2 objectAtIndex:j] objectAtIndex:l] intValue];
}
kNSNumber = [NSNumber numberWithInt:k];
[multipliedArrayInto replaceObjectAtIndex:j withObject:kNSNumber];
});
[resulArray insertObject:multipliedArrayInto atIndex:i];
}
There's two things, I can suggest, and I bet one of them (or both) is the overarching solution to your problem.
First, I would declare k local to the block, so there would be no question that you are overwriting it or not. You likely have the same problem with kNSNumber inside the block. If you are just using that NSNumber instance to slam into the multipliedArrayInto accumulator, you may as well remove kNSNumber, and use #(k) in it's place (if only to be more readable). Similarly, make sure multipliedArrayInto is declared just before the dispatch_apply, in what looks like an outer for loop (where ever i is coming from). And finally, make sure resulArray is instantiated, or otherwise readied just before that outer for loop.
Second, is queue a concurrent or serial queue? If you are using dispatch_apply like a parallel-executing for/enumeration -- which is likely, I think, so you are taking about handling "big arrays" efficiently -- then you are practically guaranteeing that k is being overwritten. If you change it to serial, it may work as designed. If you want it to be parallel, you will need to move the declaration of your k accumulator inside the block, and make sure the declaration of other variables makes sense, too.
Update to reflect question updates:
#antonytonies ideally, your followup answer on this thread should be moved into the question itself, so that people can follow this thread easier.
So, it looks like what I described is exactly your problem.
The global queues are all concurrent queues, which means that (hypothetically) all the dispatch blocks are executing at once, and the contents of k and other variables are getting blown away depending on how the order of the blocks executes.
I've taken your update (in the "answer" you added), and modified it to probably work:
// I renamed your method, because nameless parameters pain me. This is cosmetic, and doesn't
// matter for the problem at hand.
- (NSMutableArray *)multiplicationArrays:(NSMutableArray *)array vector:(NSMutableArray *)vector
{
// IMHO, you want to set resultArray to nil here. Another option is to set it to nil in the
// else case, below. Properties in Objective-C are initalized to nil,0,false,etc; you can
// rely on ARC to initialize pointer to objc objects on the stack, too. However, someone
// reading this code may or may not know that. IMHO, using the explicitly assignement makes it
// clear that you're going to be returning `nil` or an instance of `NSMutableArray`.
NSMutableArray *resultArray = nil;
if ([[array objectAtIndex:0] count] == [vector count]) {
// Nicely done w/ pre-allocating the result array here, so that there's no question
// of the indexes matches the results later on.
resultArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:[array count]];
for (int i=0; i < [array count]; i++) {
[resultArray insertObject:[NSNull null] atIndex:i];
}
// 'queue' here is a concurrent queue. This means that you are proclaiming to the runtime
// that the blocks being executed are able to operate correctly w/o interference from each
// other. This is also thought of in terms of parallel execution: all these blocks may run
// **at once**. This *also* means, that you must not share storage between them.
dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0);
dispatch_apply([array count], queue, ^(size_t j) {
// Moved 'result' inside the block.
NSInteger result = 0;
for (int l = 0; l < [[array objectAtIndex:0] count]; l++) {
// These array reads are **NOT** thread safe. They probably don't cause must trouble in
// practice, but you may want to reconfigure this.
result += [[[array objectAtIndex:j] objectAtIndex:l] intValue] * [[vector objectAtIndex:l] intValue];
}
// The replace of the object into resultArray is **NOT** thread-safe.
// This probably hasn't caused you much trouble, since you can guarantee that
// you aren't writing at the same index. However, I would strongly suggest to
// change this to be thread-safe.
[resultArray replaceObjectAtIndex:j withObject:#(result)];
});
}
else {
NSLog(#"matrix count isn't correspond");
}
return resultArray;
}
Finally: consider just using Apple's Accelerate framework for this sort of problem solving. It's available on OSX and iOS, so you should have all of your bases covered.
it's the same thing if I multiple 2D-array and vector
-(NSMutableArray*)multiplicationArraysWithVector:(NSMutableArray *)array :(NSMutableArray *)vector
{
NSMutableArray* resultArray;
if ([[array objectAtIndex:0] count] == [vector count])
{
resultArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:[array count]];
for (int i=0; i < [array count]; i++) {
[resultArray insertObject:[NSNull null] atIndex:i];
}
__block NSInteger result;
dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0);
dispatch_apply([array count], queue, ^(size_t j)
{
result = 0;
for (int l = 0; l < [[array objectAtIndex:0] count]; l++) {
result += [[[array objectAtIndex:j] objectAtIndex:l] intValue] * [[vector objectAtIndex:l]intValue];
}
[resultArray replaceObjectAtIndex:j withObject:#(result)];
});
}
else
{
NSLog(#"matrix count isn't correspond");
}
return resultArray;
}
In this case I can get a right or wrong data result.

Objective C - Matrix Multiplication Slow Performance

I have 2 2-D NSMutableArrays and I am trying to do some basic matrix multiplication. I have my generic formula code below, but its performance is exceptionally slow (as expected). I have done lots of googling and have not found any easy nor easy to understand formulas to change up the code for performance enhancement. Can anyone point me in the right direction of a straightforward formula/tutorial/example of how to get better performance than 0(n^3) with matrix multiplication in Objective C.
+ (NSMutableArray*)multiply:(NSMutableArray*)a1 withArray:(NSMutableArray*)a2
{
if([[a1 objectAtIndex: 0] count] != [a2 count])
{
NSLog(#"Multiplicaton error!");
return NULL;
}
int a1_rowNum = [a1 count];
int a2_rowNum = [a2 count];
int a2_colNum = [[a2 objectAtIndex:0] count];
NSMutableArray *result = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:a1_rowNum];
for (int i = 0; i < a1_rowNum; i++) {
NSMutableArray *tempRow = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:a2_colNum];
for (int j = 0; j < a2_colNum; j++) {
double tempTotal = 0;
for (int k = 0; k < a2_rowNum; k++) {
double temp1 = [[[a1 objectAtIndex:i] objectAtIndex:k] doubleValue];
double temp2 = [[[a2 objectAtIndex:k] objectAtIndex:j] doubleValue];
tempTotal += temp1 * temp2;
}
//Stored as a string because I upload it to an online database for storage.
[tempRow addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:#"%f",tempTotal]];
}
[result addObject:tempRow];
}
return result;
}
It will be much faster if you Write it in C.
double[] will be ridiculously fast compared to an NSArray of NSNumbers for this task. you'll have good cache coherency, minimal instructions, no need to go through the runtime or allocate in order to write or read an element. no need to perform reference count cycling on each element…
You need have a look at Apple's Accelerate frameWork for ios4.0 onwards.
You can do a lot of complex math and matrix manipulation with it and this framework is optimized to run on any iOS hardware.
Checkout:
https://developer.apple.com/performance/accelerateframework.html

Sort Array of CGPoints

I am trying to figure out what the fastest/cleanest way to sort an array of CGPoints would be. I think I could achieve this using loops but that might not be the fastest and I hope it isn't the cleanest way. I would like to take an array of random CGPoints and sort them say by smallest x coordinate to largest, or smallest x and y coordinate to largest.
After the correct comment by Chuck, I've updated the answer using the sortUsingComparator method:
Here is the complete code with sample data:
First we generate 100 random values that we enter to the Array:
NSMutableArray *testArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:100];
for (int i=0; i<100; i++) {
CGPoint testPoint = CGPointMake(arc4random()%100, arc4random()%100);
[testArray addObject:[NSValue valueWithCGPoint:testPoint]];
}
and here is the actual code to sort the array:
[testArray sortUsingComparator:^(id firstObject, id secondObject) {
CGPoint firstPoint = [firstObject CGPointValue];
CGPoint secondPoint = [secondObject CGPointValue];
return firstPoint.x>secondPoint.x;
}];
finally we can verify that the array was sorted, by printing it:
NSLog(#"%#",testArray);
The C qsort() function is probably your best bet if you just have a plain array of CGPoints. Something like this:
int compareXCoords(CGPoint *a, CGPoint *b) {
return b->x - a->x;
}
// Later:
CGPoint points[100];
// initialize points somehow
qsort(points, 100, sizeof(CGPoint), compareXCoords);
// points is now sorted by the points' x coordinates
According to my comment, it's a good solution insert them on a NSMutableArray keeping the sort you decide.
You have to do something like this:
NSMutableArray *array = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:1];
CGPoint candidate;
// Look for the position it has to be
int 0;
for (CGPoint point in array) {
i++;
// Compare candidate with current point
// You have to define this condition, when point is greater than candidate
if (point > candidate) {
break;
}
}
[array insertObjectAtIndex:i-1];
Maybe my code has some errors, I can't check if it's correct now.

Copy NSMutableArray into array of floats for GLES rendering

I have an NSMutableArray called mVerticies stored as a member of my class and I'd like to place them into a float array to draw them with glVertexAttribPointer.
Normally when drawing, I would have something like:
float verticies[] = {-1, -1, 1, -1};
// ... prepare to draw
glVertexAttribPointer(GLKVertexAttribPosition,
2, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, 0, verticies);
// ... draw
But in order to use the glVertexAttribPointer function, i need a float[]. The verticies are stored as an NSMutableArray because they change quite often. Is there an easy way to either store a dynamic float[] as a member or to quickly convert an NSMutableArray to a float[]?
Assuming the values are stored as NSNumbers, you can do something like this:
float *floatsArray = malloc([numbersArray count] * sizeof(float));
if (floatsArray == NULL) {
// handle error
}
[numbersArray enumerateObjectsWithOptions:NSEnumerationConcurrent usingBlock:^(NSNumber *number, NSUInteger idx, BOOL *stop) {
floatsArray[idx] = [number floatValue];
}];
// use floatsArray
free(floatsArray);
You need to use malloc if you just want a raw chunk memory to read and write values directly.
If you have an NSArray array containing NSNumber instances:
float *vertices = malloc(sizeof(float) * [array count]);
for (int i = 0; i < [array count]; i++) {
vertices[i] = [[array objectAtIndex:i] floatValue];
}
// draw cool 3D objects and stuff
glVertexAttribPointer(....)
// then, when you're totally done with the memory
free(vertices);
Unlike Objective-C objects, the vertices pointer doesn't have a retain count, so you need to free it yourself, and keep track of when you can free it, because when you call free it will be gone immediately.
Just loop through the values. Assuming your floats are stored as NSNumbers:
NSUInteger count = [mutableVerticesArray count];
float vertices[count];
for (NSUInteger i = 0; i < count; i++) {
vertices[i] = [[mutableVerticesArray objectAtIndex:i] floatValue];
}
// Drawing etc.

How to cycle through an array of CGPoints

I have created an array of 16 CGpoints representing 16 positions on a game board. This is how i set up the array CGPoint cgpointarray[16]; I would like to create a for loop to cycle through each item in the array and check if the touch is within x distance of a position (i have the position as a CGPoint. I don't have much experiance with xcode or objective c. I know the python equivalent would be
for (i in cgpointarray){
//Stuff to do
}
How would i accomplish this? Thanks
for (int i = 0; i < 16; i++){
CGPoint p = cgpointarray[i];
//do something
}
Or if you want to use the NSArray Class:
NSMutableArray *points = [NSMutableArray array];
[points addObject:[ NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointMake(1,2)]];
for(NSValue *v in points) {
CGPoint p = v.CGPointValue;
//do something
}
( not tested in XCode )
This should do it:
for (NSUInteger i=0; i < sizeof(cgpointarray)/sizeof(CGPoint); i++) {
CGPoint point = cgpointarray[i];
// Do stuff with point
}
I would normally go for the NSValue approach above but sometimes you are working with an API where you can't change the output. #Andrews approach is cool but I prefer the simplicity of .count:
NSArray* arrayOfStructyThings = [someAPI giveMeAnNSArrayOfStructs];
for (NSUInteger i = 0; i < arrayOfStructyThings.count; ++i) {
SomeOldStruct tr = arrayOfStructyThings[i];
.... do your worst here ...
}