From: jklowden@speakeasy.net   
      
   I recently came across code testing passed strings that I'm guessing is   
   intended to be fast, but to me looks just awful.  Before I   
   suggest/offer fixes, I want to make sure I'm not missing something   
   obvious.   
      
   The function is passed a length and a char*, and does:   
      
   switch(len) {   
   case 5:   
   	if(   s[0] == 'H'   
   	   && s[1] == 'E'   
   	   && s[2] == 'L'   
   	   && s[3] == 'L'   
   	   && s[4] == 'O' )   
   		/* stuff*/   
   	break;   
   case 8:   
   	if( s[0] == 'R'   
   	  && /* etc. */   
   }   
      
   I can think of three ways in a minute to write that more concisely and   
   idiomatically.  The question is, is there now or was there ever   
   justification for such elaborate hard-coding?   
      
   I remember unrolling loops 20 years ago; even then I thought that was   
   the compiler's job. These days size is all because cache is king.   
      
   --jkl   
      
      
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