lm317 vs lm1117 for 5v to 3.3v in circuit
Use a LM1117 for the following reasons:


LM1117 will require less components. 
It may be difficult to get exactly 3.3V using a LM317 and off
the shelf resistor values.
LM1117 has a lower drop out voltage. The LM317 requires 3V headroom so just off that it will not get the job done. The LM1117 just barely suffices with a dropout voltage of 1.2V. Your final voltage will be $$Vo = 5V - 1.2V - Vloss$$.


Where Vloss is the voltage drop caused by the resistance of the cable.

In terms of efficiency, they are both linear regulators so the wasted power in each will be roughly the same.