QR Code: reduce encode time by about 8% (mask evaluation)

Author: gredler

README.md

@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ and data.
 - Update build toolchain from Java 17 to Java 21 (minimum target runtime remains Java 8)
 - SVG and EPS output: round up canvas dimensions when using decimal magnification factor
 - MaxiCode: reduce memory use during encoding
-- QR Code: reduce encode time by about 15%
+- QR Code: reduce encode time by about 25%
 
 #### Okapi Barcode 0.4.6
 - QR Code: allow FNC1 escape sequences in user-provided content

src/main/java/uk/org/okapibarcode/backend/QrCode.java

@@ -1538,10 +1538,9 @@ private static int evaluate(byte[] eval, int size, int pattern, int best, String
         dark_mods = 0;
         int mask = 0x01 << pattern;
         for (i = 0; i < local.length; i++) {
-            if ((eval[i] & mask) != 0) {
-                local[i] = 1;
-                dark_mods++; // optimization: early prep for test 4 below
-            }
+            byte val = (byte) ((eval[i] & mask) >> pattern); // 0 or 1
+            local[i] = val;
+            dark_mods += val; // optimization: early prep for test 4 below
         }
 
         encodeInfo.append("Mask ").append(maskToString(pattern)).append(" Penalties: ");