Here is another perspective: - the first one (branchless) use the condition to SAVE the correct value (< 500): it temporarily writes any current value to the s

Here is another perspective: - the first one (branchless) use the condition to SAVE the correct value (< 500): it temporarily writes any current value to the same index i, always overwriting the previous value, effectively saving it (by moving forward to i+1) only when the value is right (small number). Downside of this simple function: the last value may be bigger than 500 - the second one use the condition to ADD the value, when it is 100% sure it is a correct small number