optimization - What's the fastest way to divide an integer by 3?

Question

int x = n / 3;  // <-- make this faster

// for instance

int a = n * 3; // <-- normal integer multiplication

int b = (n << 1) + n; // <-- potentially faster multiplication

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/171301/whats-the-fastest-way-to-divide-an-integer-by-3

Answer 1

This is the fastest as the compiler will optimize it if it can depending on the output processor.

int a;
int b;

a = some value;
b = a / 3;