[Chaosxk]

Hey, i have to find several entities and kill them, wondering which one would be more efficient

This

void RemoveExistingBoss()
{
	int ent = -1;
	while ((ent = FindEntityByClassname(ent, "headless_hatman")) != -1)
		if (IsValidEntity(ent)) 
			AcceptEntityInput(ent, "Kill");
			
	while ((ent = FindEntityByClassname(ent, "eyeball_boss")) != -1)
		if (IsValidEntity(ent))
			AcceptEntityInput(ent, "Kill");
			
	while ((ent = FindEntityByClassname(ent, "merasmus")) != -1)
		if (IsValidEntity(ent))
			AcceptEntityInput(ent, "Kill");
			
	while ((ent = FindEntityByClassname(ent, "tf_zombie")) != -1)
		if (IsValidEntity(ent))
			AcceptEntityInput(ent, "Kill");
}

or this?

void RemoveExistingBoss()
{
	char classname[32];
	for (int i = MaxClients + 1; i <= 2048; i++)
	{
		if (!IsValidEntity(i))
			continue;
		
		GetEntityClassname(i, classname, 32);
		
		if (!strcmp(classname, "headless_hatman", false))
			AcceptEntityInput(i, "Kill");
		
		else if (!strcmp(classname, "eyeball_boss", false))
			AcceptEntityInput(i, "Kill");
			
		else if (!strcmp(classname, "merasmus", false))
			AcceptEntityInput(i, "Kill");
			
		else if (!strcmp(classname, "tf_zombie", false))
			AcceptEntityInput(i, "Kill");
	}
}

I'm leaning more towards the looping but wondering what others have to say.

[psychonic]

It depends on how many entities, both networked and non-networked are in the server.

FindEntityByClassname already has a list of valid entities, so instead of also checking if an entity is valid, it only need to check the classname. It also runs in native code. However, it also looks at (valid) non-networked entities, which you stop before you hit if you are only going to 2048.

If you want to know which is faster for sure, time them.

[Chaosxk]

Well just timed both of them using GetGameTime() and the difference in time is 0, unless i did something wrong.

float a = GetGameTime();
PrintToChatAll("%f", a);
	
//code here

float b = GetGameTime();
PrintToChatAll("%f", b);

Originally Posted by psychonic FindEntityByClassname already has a list of valid entities, so instead of also checking if an entity is valid, it only need to check the classname.

Good to know, never knew it was already valid.

I guess i will keep it with FindEntityClassname() just for the readability.

[Benoist3012]

Not sure if this is still a thing, but you should use the profiler function https://sm.alliedmods.net/new-api/profiler, to know how much time a part of your code takes to run.