Efficiently adding a fixed real numbered value to a set of elements in an array

Question

Imagine I'm trying to add some value $r$ to each element in a very large array $L$. Take for example:

L = Table[RandomReal[{0,1}],{q,1,10^7}];
r = 0.0032;

I can effectively add $r$ to each element in $L$ by writing:

L = Table[L[[q]]+r,{q,1,Length[L]}];

This operation takes about $\approx 322$ milliseconds. However, is there a better / faster way to proceed?

Answer 1

Take advantage of listability -- meaning that you do not have to loop through the list, just add r to the list.

Timing[L1 = Table[L[[q]] + r, {q, 1, Length[L]}];]
(* {1.288042, Null} *)

faster listable alternative:

Timing[L2 = L + r;]
(* {0.339668, Null} *)

L1 == L2
(* True  *)

Timings on old Mac running V8.

Answer 2

This can speeded up even more by eliminating Table as well as using listability. Here are timings from my system.

r = 0.0032;
SeedRandom[42]; 
Timing[t1 = Table[RandomReal[{0, 1}], {q, 1, 10^7}];
  t2 = Table[t1[[q]] + r, {q, 1, Length[t1]}];]

{1.331451, Null}

SeedRandom[42];
Timing[tbl = RandomReal[1., 10^7] + r;]

{0.243818, Null}

tbl == t2

True