Hoping someone from SideFX can chime in...

Is there any known performance difference between:
1. using a Switch node to enact/bypass another LOP node
2. not using a Switch node, but using the Activation parm on said LOP node instead?


I frankly use the Activation parm a lot, with an expression on it, and I find it plenty fast, and it's fewer nodes to manage. But someone told me recently that it's more "Houdini-like" to use a Switch node instead (although the activation parm is a native feature, so...).

Speed-wise the two should be roughly equivalent. Some prefer the visual nature of a switch. But the activation parameter should affect node dimming, so there is some visual feedback in the network editor when a node is deactivated (though the refresh on that might not be perfect). The activation parameter has been in LOPs since day one, and it's not going anywhere, so it's just as "official" as a Switch LOP.

I'd say it's purely a choice of personal/studio preference.