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6f836859 1@c markers: BUG TODO
4ee9c684 2
f1717362 3@c Copyright (C) 1988-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
c595c96a 4@c This is part of the GCC manual.
5@c For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi.
6
7@node Passes
8@chapter Passes and Files of the Compiler
9@cindex passes and files of the compiler
10@cindex files and passes of the compiler
11@cindex compiler passes and files
16e19638 12@cindex pass dumps
c595c96a 13
4ee9c684 14This chapter is dedicated to giving an overview of the optimization and
09c8496f 15code generation passes of the compiler. In the process, it describes
4ee9c684 16some of the language front end interface, though this description is no
17where near complete.
18
19@menu
20* Parsing pass:: The language front end turns text into bits.
3c6d4197 21* Cilk Plus Transformation:: Transform Cilk Plus Code to equivalent C/C++.
4ee9c684 22* Gimplification pass:: The bits are turned into something we can optimize.
c24c5fac 23* Pass manager:: Sequencing the optimization passes.
507ec136 24* Tree SSA passes:: Optimizations on a high-level representation.
4ee9c684 25* RTL passes:: Optimizations on a low-level representation.
16e19638 26* Optimization info:: Dumping optimization information from passes.
4ee9c684 27@end menu
28
29@node Parsing pass
30@section Parsing pass
31@cindex GENERIC
32@findex lang_hooks.parse_file
33The language front end is invoked only once, via
34@code{lang_hooks.parse_file}, to parse the entire input. The language
09c8496f 35front end may use any intermediate language representation deemed
6f836859 36appropriate. The C front end uses GENERIC trees (@pxref{GENERIC}), plus
4ee9c684 37a double handful of language specific tree codes defined in
38@file{c-common.def}. The Fortran front end uses a completely different
39private representation.
40
41@cindex GIMPLE
42@cindex gimplification
43@cindex gimplifier
44@cindex language-independent intermediate representation
45@cindex intermediate representation lowering
46@cindex lowering, language-dependent intermediate representation
47At some point the front end must translate the representation used in the
09c8496f 48front end to a representation understood by the language-independent
4ee9c684 49portions of the compiler. Current practice takes one of two forms.
6f836859 50The C front end manually invokes the gimplifier (@pxref{GIMPLE}) on each function,
09c8496f 51and uses the gimplifier callbacks to convert the language-specific tree
6f836859 52nodes directly to GIMPLE before passing the function off to be compiled.
4ee9c684 53The Fortran front end converts from a private representation to GENERIC,
54which is later lowered to GIMPLE when the function is compiled. Which
55route to choose probably depends on how well GENERIC (plus extensions)
56can be made to match up with the source language and necessary parsing
57data structures.
58
59BUG: Gimplification must occur before nested function lowering,
60and nested function lowering must be done by the front end before
61passing the data off to cgraph.
62
63TODO: Cgraph should control nested function lowering. It would
64only be invoked when it is certain that the outer-most function
65is used.
66
67TODO: Cgraph needs a gimplify_function callback. It should be
68invoked when (1) it is certain that the function is used, (2)
69warning flags specified by the user require some amount of
70compilation in order to honor, (3) the language indicates that
71semantic analysis is not complete until gimplification occurs.
b3d47662 72Hum@dots{} this sounds overly complicated. Perhaps we should just
4ee9c684 73have the front end gimplify always; in most cases it's only one
74function call.
75
09c8496f 76The front end needs to pass all function definitions and top level
4ee9c684 77declarations off to the middle-end so that they can be compiled and
78emitted to the object file. For a simple procedural language, it is
79usually most convenient to do this as each top level declaration or
80definition is seen. There is also a distinction to be made between
81generating functional code and generating complete debug information.
82The only thing that is absolutely required for functional code is that
fcc3191b 83function and data @emph{definitions} be passed to the middle-end. For
09c8496f 84complete debug information, function, data and type declarations
4ee9c684 85should all be passed as well.
86
c595c96a 87@findex rest_of_decl_compilation
4ee9c684 88@findex rest_of_type_compilation
89@findex cgraph_finalize_function
90In any case, the front end needs each complete top-level function or
09c8496f 91data declaration, and each data definition should be passed to
4ee9c684 92@code{rest_of_decl_compilation}. Each complete type definition should
93be passed to @code{rest_of_type_compilation}. Each function definition
94should be passed to @code{cgraph_finalize_function}.
95
96TODO: I know rest_of_compilation currently has all sorts of
507ec136 97RTL generation semantics. I plan to move all code generation
98bits (both Tree and RTL) to compile_function. Should we hide
4ee9c684 99cgraph from the front ends and move back to rest_of_compilation
100as the official interface? Possibly we should rename all three
101interfaces such that the names match in some meaningful way and
102that is more descriptive than "rest_of".
103
09c8496f 104The middle-end will, at its option, emit the function and data
4ee9c684 105definitions immediately or queue them for later processing.
106
3c6d4197 107@node Cilk Plus Transformation
108@section Cilk Plus Transformation
109@cindex CILK_PLUS
110
111If Cilk Plus generation (flag @option{-fcilkplus}) is enabled, all the Cilk
112Plus code is transformed into equivalent C and C++ functions. Majority of this
113transformation occurs toward the end of the parsing and right before the
114gimplification pass.
115
116These are the major components to the Cilk Plus language extension:
117@itemize @bullet
118@item Array Notations:
119During parsing phase, all the array notation specific information is stored in
120@code{ARRAY_NOTATION_REF} tree using the function
121@code{c_parser_array_notation}. During the end of parsing, we check the entire
122function to see if there are any array notation specific code (using the
123function @code{contains_array_notation_expr}). If this function returns
124true, then we expand them using either @code{expand_array_notation_exprs} or
125@code{build_array_notation_expr}. For the cases where array notations are
126inside conditions, they are transformed using the function
127@code{fix_conditional_array_notations}. The C language-specific routines are
128located in @file{c/c-array-notation.c} and the equivalent C++ routines are in
d037099f 129the file @file{cp/cp-array-notation.c}. Common routines such as functions to
130initialize built-in functions are stored in @file{array-notation-common.c}.
131
132@item Cilk keywords:
133@itemize @bullet
134@item @code{_Cilk_spawn}:
135The @code{_Cilk_spawn} keyword is parsed and the function it contains is marked
136as a spawning function. The spawning function is called the spawner. At
137the end of the parsing phase, appropriate built-in functions are
138added to the spawner that are defined in the Cilk runtime. The appropriate
139locations of these functions, and the internal structures are detailed in
140@code{cilk_init_builtins} in the file @file{cilk-common.c}. The pointers to
141Cilk functions and fields of internal structures are described
142in @file{cilk.h}. The built-in functions are described in
143@file{cilk-builtins.def}.
144
145During gimplification, a new "spawn-helper" function is created.
146The spawned function is replaced with a spawn helper function in the spawner.
147The spawned function-call is moved into the spawn helper. The main function
148that does these transformations is @code{gimplify_cilk_spawn} in
149@file{c-family/cilk.c}. In the spawn-helper, the gimplification function
150@code{gimplify_call_expr}, inserts a function call @code{__cilkrts_detach}.
151This function is expanded by @code{builtin_expand_cilk_detach} located in
152@file{c-family/cilk.c}.
153
154@item @code{_Cilk_sync}:
155@code{_Cilk_sync} is parsed like a keyword. During gimplification,
156the function @code{gimplify_cilk_sync} in @file{c-family/cilk.c}, will replace
157this keyword with a set of functions that are stored in the Cilk runtime.
158One of the internal functions inserted during gimplification,
159@code{__cilkrts_pop_frame} must be expanded by the compiler and is
160done by @code{builtin_expand_cilk_pop_frame} in @file{cilk-common.c}.
161
162@end itemize
3c6d4197 163@end itemize
164
d037099f 165Documentation about Cilk Plus and language specification is provided under the
166"Learn" section in @w{@uref{http://www.cilkplus.org/}}. It is worth mentioning
167that the current implementation follows ABI 1.1.
3c6d4197 168
4ee9c684 169@node Gimplification pass
170@section Gimplification pass
171
172@cindex gimplification
173@cindex GIMPLE
174@dfn{Gimplification} is a whimsical term for the process of converting
175the intermediate representation of a function into the GIMPLE language
6f836859 176(@pxref{GIMPLE}). The term stuck, and so words like ``gimplification'',
d436970f 177``gimplify'', ``gimplifier'' and the like are sprinkled throughout this
4ee9c684 178section of code.
179
4ee9c684 180While a front end may certainly choose to generate GIMPLE directly if
09c8496f 181it chooses, this can be a moderately complex process unless the
4ee9c684 182intermediate language used by the front end is already fairly simple.
183Usually it is easier to generate GENERIC trees plus extensions
184and let the language-independent gimplifier do most of the work.
185
186@findex gimplify_function_tree
187@findex gimplify_expr
188@findex lang_hooks.gimplify_expr
189The main entry point to this pass is @code{gimplify_function_tree}
09c8496f 190located in @file{gimplify.c}. From here we process the entire
4ee9c684 191function gimplifying each statement in turn. The main workhorse
192for this pass is @code{gimplify_expr}. Approximately everything
193passes through here at least once, and it is from here that we
194invoke the @code{lang_hooks.gimplify_expr} callback.
195
196The callback should examine the expression in question and return
197@code{GS_UNHANDLED} if the expression is not a language specific
198construct that requires attention. Otherwise it should alter the
199expression in some way to such that forward progress is made toward
b3d47662 200producing valid GIMPLE@. If the callback is certain that the
4ee9c684 201transformation is complete and the expression is valid GIMPLE, it
202should return @code{GS_ALL_DONE}. Otherwise it should return
203@code{GS_OK}, which will cause the expression to be processed again.
204If the callback encounters an error during the transformation (because
205the front end is relying on the gimplification process to finish
206semantic checks), it should return @code{GS_ERROR}.
207
208@node Pass manager
209@section Pass manager
210
590abde1 211The pass manager is located in @file{passes.c}, @file{tree-optimize.c}
212and @file{tree-pass.h}.
40084dd3 213It processes passes as described in @file{passes.def}.
4ee9c684 214Its job is to run all of the individual passes in the correct order,
215and take care of standard bookkeeping that applies to every pass.
216
217The theory of operation is that each pass defines a structure that
01e3cadf 218represents everything we need to know about that pass---when it
09c8496f 219should be run, how it should be run, what intermediate language
4ee9c684 220form or on-the-side data structures it needs. We register the pass
221to be run in some particular order, and the pass manager arranges
222for everything to happen in the correct order.
223
224The actuality doesn't completely live up to the theory at present.
225Command-line switches and @code{timevar_id_t} enumerations must still
226be defined elsewhere. The pass manager validates constraints but does
227not attempt to (re-)generate data structures or lower intermediate
228language form based on the requirements of the next pass. Nevertheless,
229what is present is useful, and a far sight better than nothing at all.
230
0c297edc 231Each pass should have a unique name.
9478582c 232Each pass may have its own dump file (for GCC debugging purposes).
0c297edc 233Passes with a name starting with a star do not dump anything.
234Sometimes passes are supposed to share a dump file / option name.
235To still give these unique names, you can use a prefix that is delimited
236by a space from the part that is used for the dump file / option name.
237E.g. When the pass name is "ud dce", the name used for dump file/options
238is "dce".
9478582c 239
4ee9c684 240TODO: describe the global variables set up by the pass manager,
241and a brief description of how a new pass should use it.
507ec136 242I need to look at what info RTL passes use first@enddots{}
4ee9c684 243
507ec136 244@node Tree SSA passes
245@section Tree SSA passes
4ee9c684 246
507ec136 247The following briefly describes the Tree optimization passes that are
4ee9c684 248run after gimplification and what source files they are located in.
c595c96a 249
250@itemize @bullet
4ee9c684 251@item Remove useless statements
252
253This pass is an extremely simple sweep across the gimple code in which
254we identify obviously dead code and remove it. Here we do things like
255simplify @code{if} statements with constant conditions, remove
256exception handling constructs surrounding code that obviously cannot
257throw, remove lexical bindings that contain no variables, and other
258assorted simplistic cleanups. The idea is to get rid of the obvious
259stuff quickly rather than wait until later when it's more work to get
260rid of it. This pass is located in @file{tree-cfg.c} and described by
261@code{pass_remove_useless_stmts}.
262
9ca2c29a 263@item OpenMP lowering
2a4b6f84 264
265If OpenMP generation (@option{-fopenmp}) is enabled, this pass lowers
266OpenMP constructs into GIMPLE.
267
268Lowering of OpenMP constructs involves creating replacement
269expressions for local variables that have been mapped using data
270sharing clauses, exposing the control flow of most synchronization
271directives and adding region markers to facilitate the creation of the
272control flow graph. The pass is located in @file{omp-low.c} and is
273described by @code{pass_lower_omp}.
274
275@item OpenMP expansion
276
277If OpenMP generation (@option{-fopenmp}) is enabled, this pass expands
278parallel regions into their own functions to be invoked by the thread
279library. The pass is located in @file{omp-low.c} and is described by
280@code{pass_expand_omp}.
281
4ee9c684 282@item Lower control flow
283
d1c59264 284This pass flattens @code{if} statements (@code{COND_EXPR})
4ee9c684 285and moves lexical bindings (@code{BIND_EXPR}) out of line. After
286this pass, all @code{if} statements will have exactly two @code{goto}
287statements in its @code{then} and @code{else} arms. Lexical binding
288information for each statement will be found in @code{TREE_BLOCK} rather
289than being inferred from its position under a @code{BIND_EXPR}. This
09c8496f 290pass is found in @file{gimple-low.c} and is described by
4ee9c684 291@code{pass_lower_cf}.
292
293@item Lower exception handling control flow
294
295This pass decomposes high-level exception handling constructs
296(@code{TRY_FINALLY_EXPR} and @code{TRY_CATCH_EXPR}) into a form
297that explicitly represents the control flow involved. After this
298pass, @code{lookup_stmt_eh_region} will return a non-negative
299number for any statement that may have EH control flow semantics;
300examine @code{tree_can_throw_internal} or @code{tree_can_throw_external}
301for exact semantics. Exact control flow may be extracted from
302@code{foreach_reachable_handler}. The EH region nesting tree is defined
303in @file{except.h} and built in @file{except.c}. The lowering pass
304itself is in @file{tree-eh.c} and is described by @code{pass_lower_eh}.
305
306@item Build the control flow graph
307
308This pass decomposes a function into basic blocks and creates all of
309the edges that connect them. It is located in @file{tree-cfg.c} and
310is described by @code{pass_build_cfg}.
311
312@item Find all referenced variables
313
09c8496f 314This pass walks the entire function and collects an array of all
4ee9c684 315variables referenced in the function, @code{referenced_vars}. The
316index at which a variable is found in the array is used as a UID
317for the variable within this function. This data is needed by the
318SSA rewriting routines. The pass is located in @file{tree-dfa.c}
319and is described by @code{pass_referenced_vars}.
320
4ee9c684 321@item Enter static single assignment form
322
323This pass rewrites the function such that it is in SSA form. After
324this pass, all @code{is_gimple_reg} variables will be referenced by
09c8496f 325@code{SSA_NAME}, and all occurrences of other variables will be
9fc508b2 326annotated with @code{VDEFS} and @code{VUSES}; PHI nodes will have
4ee9c684 327been inserted as necessary for each basic block. This pass is
328located in @file{tree-ssa.c} and is described by @code{pass_build_ssa}.
329
330@item Warn for uninitialized variables
331
332This pass scans the function for uses of @code{SSA_NAME}s that
333are fed by default definition. For non-parameter variables, such
334uses are uninitialized. The pass is run twice, before and after
ea18e2e5 335optimization (if turned on). In the first pass we only warn for uses that are
4ee9c684 336positively uninitialized; in the second pass we warn for uses that
337are possibly uninitialized. The pass is located in @file{tree-ssa.c}
338and is defined by @code{pass_early_warn_uninitialized} and
339@code{pass_late_warn_uninitialized}.
340
341@item Dead code elimination
342
343This pass scans the function for statements without side effects whose
344result is unused. It does not do memory life analysis, so any value
345that is stored in memory is considered used. The pass is run multiple
346times throughout the optimization process. It is located in
347@file{tree-ssa-dce.c} and is described by @code{pass_dce}.
348
349@item Dominator optimizations
350
351This pass performs trivial dominator-based copy and constant propagation,
352expression simplification, and jump threading. It is run multiple times
68576faf 353throughout the optimization process. It is located in @file{tree-ssa-dom.c}
4ee9c684 354and is described by @code{pass_dominator}.
355
4ee9c684 356@item Forward propagation of single-use variables
357
358This pass attempts to remove redundant computation by substituting
359variables that are used once into the expression that uses them and
09c8496f 360seeing if the result can be simplified. It is located in
4ee9c684 361@file{tree-ssa-forwprop.c} and is described by @code{pass_forwprop}.
362
363@item Copy Renaming
364
09c8496f 365This pass attempts to change the name of compiler temporaries involved in
b3d47662 366copy operations such that SSA->normal can coalesce the copy away. When compiler
4ee9c684 367temporaries are copies of user variables, it also renames the compiler
09c8496f 368temporary to the user variable resulting in better use of user symbols. It is
369located in @file{tree-ssa-copyrename.c} and is described by
4ee9c684 370@code{pass_copyrename}.
371
372@item PHI node optimizations
373
9fc508b2 374This pass recognizes forms of PHI inputs that can be represented as
4ee9c684 375conditional expressions and rewrites them into straight line code.
09c8496f 376It is located in @file{tree-ssa-phiopt.c} and is described by
4ee9c684 377@code{pass_phiopt}.
378
379@item May-alias optimization
380
381This pass performs a flow sensitive SSA-based points-to analysis.
382The resulting may-alias, must-alias, and escape analysis information
383is used to promote variables from in-memory addressable objects to
384non-aliased variables that can be renamed into SSA form. We also
d1c59264 385update the @code{VDEF}/@code{VUSE} memory tags for non-renameable
4ee9c684 386aggregates so that we get fewer false kills. The pass is located
387in @file{tree-ssa-alias.c} and is described by @code{pass_may_alias}.
388
9fc508b2 389Interprocedural points-to information is located in
390@file{tree-ssa-structalias.c} and described by @code{pass_ipa_pta}.
391
4ee9c684 392@item Profiling
393
03edaad8 394This pass instruments the function in order to collect runtime block
4ee9c684 395and value profiling data. Such data may be fed back into the compiler
396on a subsequent run so as to allow optimization based on expected
03edaad8 397execution frequencies. The pass is located in @file{tree-profile.c} and
398is described by @code{pass_ipa_tree_profile}.
399
400@item Static profile estimation
401
402This pass implements series of heuristics to guess propababilities
403of branches. The resulting predictions are turned into edge profile
404by propagating branches across the control flow graphs.
405The pass is located in @file{tree-profile.c} and is described by
406@code{pass_profile}.
4ee9c684 407
408@item Lower complex arithmetic
409
410This pass rewrites complex arithmetic operations into their component
411scalar arithmetic operations. The pass is located in @file{tree-complex.c}
412and is described by @code{pass_lower_complex}.
413
414@item Scalar replacement of aggregates
415
416This pass rewrites suitable non-aliased local aggregate variables into
09c8496f 417a set of scalar variables. The resulting scalar variables are
4ee9c684 418rewritten into SSA form, which allows subsequent optimization passes
419to do a significantly better job with them. The pass is located in
420@file{tree-sra.c} and is described by @code{pass_sra}.
421
422@item Dead store elimination
423
424This pass eliminates stores to memory that are subsequently overwritten
425by another store, without any intervening loads. The pass is located
426in @file{tree-ssa-dse.c} and is described by @code{pass_dse}.
427
428@item Tail recursion elimination
429
430This pass transforms tail recursion into a loop. It is located in
431@file{tree-tailcall.c} and is described by @code{pass_tail_recursion}.
432
5e733b02 433@item Forward store motion
434
d40533b6 435This pass sinks stores and assignments down the flowgraph closer to their
5e733b02 436use point. The pass is located in @file{tree-ssa-sink.c} and is
429f2f90 437described by @code{pass_sink_code}.
5e733b02 438
4ee9c684 439@item Partial redundancy elimination
440
441This pass eliminates partially redundant computations, as well as
442performing load motion. The pass is located in @file{tree-ssa-pre.c}
443and is described by @code{pass_pre}.
444
429f2f90 445Just before partial redundancy elimination, if
446@option{-funsafe-math-optimizations} is on, GCC tries to convert
447divisions to multiplications by the reciprocal. The pass is located
448in @file{tree-ssa-math-opts.c} and is described by
449@code{pass_cse_reciprocal}.
450
9fc508b2 451@item Full redundancy elimination
452
d40533b6 453This is a simpler form of PRE that only eliminates redundancies that
6da426a8 454occur on all paths. It is located in @file{tree-ssa-pre.c} and
9fc508b2 455described by @code{pass_fre}.
456
4ee9c684 457@item Loop optimization
458
7d23383d 459The main driver of the pass is placed in @file{tree-ssa-loop.c}
460and described by @code{pass_loop}.
461
462The optimizations performed by this pass are:
463
464Loop invariant motion. This pass moves only invariants that
507ec136 465would be hard to handle on RTL level (function calls, operations that expand to
7d23383d 466nontrivial sequences of insns). With @option{-funswitch-loops} it also moves
467operands of conditions that are invariant out of the loop, so that we can use
468just trivial invariantness analysis in loop unswitching. The pass also includes
469store motion. The pass is implemented in @file{tree-ssa-loop-im.c}.
470
bb445479 471Canonical induction variable creation. This pass creates a simple counter
472for number of iterations of the loop and replaces the exit condition of the
473loop using it, in case when a complicated analysis is necessary to determine
474the number of iterations. Later optimizations then may determine the number
475easily. The pass is implemented in @file{tree-ssa-loop-ivcanon.c}.
476
dec41e98 477Induction variable optimizations. This pass performs standard induction
478variable optimizations, including strength reduction, induction variable
479merging and induction variable elimination. The pass is implemented in
480@file{tree-ssa-loop-ivopts.c}.
481
e12d0591 482Loop unswitching. This pass moves the conditional jumps that are invariant
483out of the loops. To achieve this, a duplicate of the loop is created for
484each possible outcome of conditional jump(s). The pass is implemented in
2f85801a 485@file{tree-ssa-loop-unswitch.c}.
e12d0591 486
7d23383d 487The optimizations also use various utility functions contained in
bb445479 488@file{tree-ssa-loop-manip.c}, @file{cfgloop.c}, @file{cfgloopanal.c} and
489@file{cfgloopmanip.c}.
c595c96a 490
c412c1f3 491Vectorization. This pass transforms loops to operate on vector types
492instead of scalar types. Data parallelism across loop iterations is exploited
15b474a2 493to group data elements from consecutive iterations into a vector and operate
494on them in parallel. Depending on available target support the loop is
c412c1f3 495conceptually unrolled by a factor @code{VF} (vectorization factor), which is
15b474a2 496the number of elements operated upon in parallel in each iteration, and the
c412c1f3 497@code{VF} copies of each scalar operation are fused to form a vector operation.
498Additional loop transformations such as peeling and versioning may take place
15b474a2 499to align the number of iterations, and to align the memory accesses in the
37545e54 500loop.
501The pass is implemented in @file{tree-vectorizer.c} (the main driver),
15b474a2 502@file{tree-vect-loop.c} and @file{tree-vect-loop-manip.c} (loop specific parts
503and general loop utilities), @file{tree-vect-slp} (loop-aware SLP
37545e54 504functionality), @file{tree-vect-stmts.c} and @file{tree-vect-data-refs.c}.
c412c1f3 505Analysis of data references is in @file{tree-data-ref.c}.
506
37545e54 507SLP Vectorization. This pass performs vectorization of straight-line code. The
508pass is implemented in @file{tree-vectorizer.c} (the main driver),
15b474a2 509@file{tree-vect-slp.c}, @file{tree-vect-stmts.c} and
37545e54 510@file{tree-vect-data-refs.c}.
511
28c92cbb 512Autoparallelization. This pass splits the loop iteration space to run
513into several threads. The pass is implemented in @file{tree-parloops.c}.
514
1e2a9aa7 515Graphite is a loop transformation framework based on the polyhedral
516model. Graphite stands for Gimple Represented as Polyhedra. The
517internals of this infrastructure are documented in
518@w{@uref{http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/Graphite}}. The passes working on
519this representation are implemented in the various @file{graphite-*}
520files.
521
07c03fb0 522@item Tree level if-conversion for vectorizer
523
524This pass applies if-conversion to simple loops to help vectorizer.
9fc508b2 525We identify if convertible loops, if-convert statements and merge
b3d47662 526basic blocks in one big block. The idea is to present loop in such
07c03fb0 527form so that vectorizer can have one to one mapping between statements
15b474a2 528and available vector operations. This pass is located in
a68c9db7 529@file{tree-if-conv.c} and is described by @code{pass_if_conversion}.
07c03fb0 530
4ee9c684 531@item Conditional constant propagation
c595c96a 532
4ee9c684 533This pass relaxes a lattice of values in order to identify those
534that must be constant even in the presence of conditional branches.
535The pass is located in @file{tree-ssa-ccp.c} and is described
536by @code{pass_ccp}.
537
9fc508b2 538A related pass that works on memory loads and stores, and not just
539register values, is located in @file{tree-ssa-ccp.c} and described by
540@code{pass_store_ccp}.
541
542@item Conditional copy propagation
543
544This is similar to constant propagation but the lattice of values is
545the ``copy-of'' relation. It eliminates redundant copies from the
546code. The pass is located in @file{tree-ssa-copy.c} and described by
547@code{pass_copy_prop}.
548
549A related pass that works on memory copies, and not just register
550copies, is located in @file{tree-ssa-copy.c} and described by
551@code{pass_store_copy_prop}.
552
553@item Value range propagation
554
555This transformation is similar to constant propagation but
556instead of propagating single constant values, it propagates
557known value ranges. The implementation is based on Patterson's
558range propagation algorithm (Accurate Static Branch Prediction by
559Value Range Propagation, J. R. C. Patterson, PLDI '95). In
560contrast to Patterson's algorithm, this implementation does not
561propagate branch probabilities nor it uses more than a single
562range per SSA name. This means that the current implementation
563cannot be used for branch prediction (though adapting it would
564not be difficult). The pass is located in @file{tree-vrp.c} and is
565described by @code{pass_vrp}.
566
567@item Folding built-in functions
4ee9c684 568
9fc508b2 569This pass simplifies built-in functions, as applicable, with constant
c55906eb 570arguments or with inferable string lengths. It is located in
4ee9c684 571@file{tree-ssa-ccp.c} and is described by @code{pass_fold_builtins}.
572
573@item Split critical edges
574
575This pass identifies critical edges and inserts empty basic blocks
576such that the edge is no longer critical. The pass is located in
577@file{tree-cfg.c} and is described by @code{pass_split_crit_edges}.
578
4ee9c684 579@item Control dependence dead code elimination
580
581This pass is a stronger form of dead code elimination that can
582eliminate unnecessary control flow statements. It is located
583in @file{tree-ssa-dce.c} and is described by @code{pass_cd_dce}.
584
585@item Tail call elimination
586
587This pass identifies function calls that may be rewritten into
588jumps. No code transformation is actually applied here, but the
589data and control flow problem is solved. The code transformation
b3d47662 590requires target support, and so is delayed until RTL@. In the
4ee9c684 591meantime @code{CALL_EXPR_TAILCALL} is set indicating the possibility.
592The pass is located in @file{tree-tailcall.c} and is described by
09c8496f 593@code{pass_tail_calls}. The RTL transformation is handled by
4ee9c684 594@code{fixup_tail_calls} in @file{calls.c}.
595
596@item Warn for function return without value
597
598For non-void functions, this pass locates return statements that do
599not specify a value and issues a warning. Such a statement may have
600been injected by falling off the end of the function. This pass is
601run last so that we have as much time as possible to prove that the
602statement is not reachable. It is located in @file{tree-cfg.c} and
603is described by @code{pass_warn_function_return}.
604
4ee9c684 605@item Leave static single assignment form
606
607This pass rewrites the function such that it is in normal form. At
608the same time, we eliminate as many single-use temporaries as possible,
b3d47662 609so the intermediate language is no longer GIMPLE, but GENERIC@. The
9fc508b2 610pass is located in @file{tree-outof-ssa.c} and is described by
611@code{pass_del_ssa}.
612
613@item Merge PHI nodes that feed into one another
614
615This is part of the CFG cleanup passes. It attempts to join PHI nodes
616from a forwarder CFG block into another block with PHI nodes. The
617pass is located in @file{tree-cfgcleanup.c} and is described by
618@code{pass_merge_phi}.
619
620@item Return value optimization
621
622If a function always returns the same local variable, and that local
623variable is an aggregate type, then the variable is replaced with the
624return value for the function (i.e., the function's DECL_RESULT). This
625is equivalent to the C++ named return value optimization applied to
a81d4cba 626GIMPLE@. The pass is located in @file{tree-nrv.c} and is described by
9fc508b2 627@code{pass_nrv}.
628
629@item Return slot optimization
630
631If a function returns a memory object and is called as @code{var =
632foo()}, this pass tries to change the call so that the address of
633@code{var} is sent to the caller to avoid an extra memory copy. This
634pass is located in @code{tree-nrv.c} and is described by
635@code{pass_return_slot}.
636
637@item Optimize calls to @code{__builtin_object_size}
638
639This is a propagation pass similar to CCP that tries to remove calls
640to @code{__builtin_object_size} when the size of the object can be
641computed at compile-time. This pass is located in
642@file{tree-object-size.c} and is described by
643@code{pass_object_sizes}.
644
645@item Loop invariant motion
646
647This pass removes expensive loop-invariant computations out of loops.
648The pass is located in @file{tree-ssa-loop.c} and described by
649@code{pass_lim}.
650
651@item Loop nest optimizations
652
653This is a family of loop transformations that works on loop nests. It
654includes loop interchange, scaling, skewing and reversal and they are
655all geared to the optimization of data locality in array traversals
656and the removal of dependencies that hamper optimizations such as loop
657parallelization and vectorization. The pass is located in
658@file{tree-loop-linear.c} and described by
659@code{pass_linear_transform}.
660
661@item Removal of empty loops
662
663This pass removes loops with no code in them. The pass is located in
664@file{tree-ssa-loop-ivcanon.c} and described by
665@code{pass_empty_loop}.
666
667@item Unrolling of small loops
668
669This pass completely unrolls loops with few iterations. The pass
670is located in @file{tree-ssa-loop-ivcanon.c} and described by
671@code{pass_complete_unroll}.
672
ad4a85ad 673@item Predictive commoning
674
675This pass makes the code reuse the computations from the previous
676iterations of the loops, especially loads and stores to memory.
677It does so by storing the values of these computations to a bank
678of temporary variables that are rotated at the end of loop. To avoid
679the need for this rotation, the loop is then unrolled and the copies
680of the loop body are rewritten to use the appropriate version of
681the temporary variable. This pass is located in @file{tree-predcom.c}
682and described by @code{pass_predcom}.
683
9fc508b2 684@item Array prefetching
685
686This pass issues prefetch instructions for array references inside
687loops. The pass is located in @file{tree-ssa-loop-prefetch.c} and
688described by @code{pass_loop_prefetch}.
689
690@item Reassociation
691
692This pass rewrites arithmetic expressions to enable optimizations that
693operate on them, like redundancy elimination and vectorization. The
694pass is located in @file{tree-ssa-reassoc.c} and described by
695@code{pass_reassoc}.
696
697@item Optimization of @code{stdarg} functions
698
699This pass tries to avoid the saving of register arguments into the
700stack on entry to @code{stdarg} functions. If the function doesn't
701use any @code{va_start} macros, no registers need to be saved. If
702@code{va_start} macros are used, the @code{va_list} variables don't
703escape the function, it is only necessary to save registers that will
704be used in @code{va_arg} macros. For instance, if @code{va_arg} is
705only used with integral types in the function, floating point
706registers don't need to be saved. This pass is located in
707@code{tree-stdarg.c} and described by @code{pass_stdarg}.
708
4ee9c684 709@end itemize
710
711@node RTL passes
712@section RTL passes
713
507ec136 714The following briefly describes the RTL generation and optimization
715passes that are run after the Tree optimization passes.
4ee9c684 716
717@itemize @bullet
718@item RTL generation
c595c96a 719
720@c Avoiding overfull is tricky here.
721The source files for RTL generation include
722@file{stmt.c},
723@file{calls.c},
724@file{expr.c},
725@file{explow.c},
726@file{expmed.c},
727@file{function.c},
728@file{optabs.c}
729and @file{emit-rtl.c}.
730Also, the file
731@file{insn-emit.c}, generated from the machine description by the
732program @code{genemit}, is used in this pass. The header file
733@file{expr.h} is used for communication within this pass.
734
735@findex genflags
736@findex gencodes
737The header files @file{insn-flags.h} and @file{insn-codes.h},
738generated from the machine description by the programs @code{genflags}
739and @code{gencodes}, tell this pass which standard names are available
740for use and which patterns correspond to them.
741
507ec136 742@item Generation of exception landing pads
c595c96a 743
4ee9c684 744This pass generates the glue that handles communication between the
745exception handling library routines and the exception handlers within
746the function. Entry points in the function that are invoked by the
747exception handling library are called @dfn{landing pads}. The code
507ec136 748for this pass is located in @file{except.c}.
c595c96a 749
507ec136 750@item Control flow graph cleanup
c595c96a 751
4ee9c684 752This pass removes unreachable code, simplifies jumps to next, jumps to
753jump, jumps across jumps, etc. The pass is run multiple times.
754For historical reasons, it is occasionally referred to as the ``jump
09c8496f 755optimization pass''. The bulk of the code for this pass is in
4ee9c684 756@file{cfgcleanup.c}, and there are support routines in @file{cfgrtl.c}
757and @file{jump.c}.
c595c96a 758
42a3a38b 759@item Forward propagation of single-def values
760
761This pass attempts to remove redundant computation by substituting
762variables that come from a single definition, and
763seeing if the result can be simplified. It performs copy propagation
764and addressing mode selection. The pass is run twice, with values
507ec136 765being propagated into loops only on the second run. The code is
766located in @file{fwprop.c}.
42a3a38b 767
4ee9c684 768@item Common subexpression elimination
769
09c8496f 770This pass removes redundant computation within basic blocks, and
4ee9c684 771optimizes addressing modes based on cost. The pass is run twice.
507ec136 772The code for this pass is located in @file{cse.c}.
4ee9c684 773
507ec136 774@item Global common subexpression elimination
4ee9c684 775
776This pass performs two
c595c96a 777different types of GCSE depending on whether you are optimizing for
778size or not (LCM based GCSE tends to increase code size for a gain in
779speed, while Morel-Renvoise based GCSE does not).
780When optimizing for size, GCSE is done using Morel-Renvoise Partial
781Redundancy Elimination, with the exception that it does not try to move
782invariants out of loops---that is left to the loop optimization pass.
783If MR PRE GCSE is done, code hoisting (aka unification) is also done, as
784well as load motion.
785If you are optimizing for speed, LCM (lazy code motion) based GCSE is
786done. LCM is based on the work of Knoop, Ruthing, and Steffen. LCM
787based GCSE also does loop invariant code motion. We also perform load
788and store motion when optimizing for speed.
789Regardless of which type of GCSE is used, the GCSE pass also performs
790global constant and copy propagation.
c595c96a 791The source file for this pass is @file{gcse.c}, and the LCM routines
792are in @file{lcm.c}.
793
4ee9c684 794@item Loop optimization
c595c96a 795
4f87b914 796This pass performs several loop related optimizations.
797The source files @file{cfgloopanal.c} and @file{cfgloopmanip.c} contain
798generic loop analysis and manipulation code. Initialization and finalization
799of loop structures is handled by @file{loop-init.c}.
800A loop invariant motion pass is implemented in @file{loop-invariant.c}.
2f85801a 801Basic block level optimizations---unrolling, and peeling loops---
802are implemented in @file{loop-unroll.c}.
4f87b914 803Replacing of the exit condition of loops by special machine-dependent
804instructions is handled by @file{loop-doloop.c}.
7a8f69e1 805
4ee9c684 806@item Jump bypassing
c595c96a 807
4ee9c684 808This pass is an aggressive form of GCSE that transforms the control
809flow graph of a function by propagating constants into conditional
810branch instructions. The source file for this pass is @file{gcse.c}.
e736d585 811
4ee9c684 812@item If conversion
e736d585 813
4ee9c684 814This pass attempts to replace conditional branches and surrounding
815assignments with arithmetic, boolean value producing comparison
816instructions, and conditional move instructions. In the very last
c6a6cdaa 817invocation after reload/LRA, it will generate predicated instructions
507ec136 818when supported by the target. The code is located in @file{ifcvt.c}.
e736d585 819
4ee9c684 820@item Web construction
eeb4a70e 821
4ee9c684 822This pass splits independent uses of each pseudo-register. This can
823improve effect of the other transformation, such as CSE or register
507ec136 824allocation. The code for this pass is located in @file{web.c}.
c595c96a 825
4ee9c684 826@item Instruction combination
827
828This pass attempts to combine groups of two or three instructions that
829are related by data flow into single instructions. It combines the
830RTL expressions for the instructions by substitution, simplifies the
831result using algebra, and then attempts to match the result against
507ec136 832the machine description. The code is located in @file{combine.c}.
4ee9c684 833
507ec136 834@item Mode switching optimization
4ee9c684 835
836This pass looks for instructions that require the processor to be in a
837specific ``mode'' and minimizes the number of mode changes required to
838satisfy all users. What these modes are, and what they apply to are
507ec136 839completely target-specific. The code for this pass is located in
840@file{mode-switching.c}.
4ee9c684 841
406a73e7 842@cindex modulo scheduling
843@cindex sms, swing, software pipelining
09c8496f 844@item Modulo scheduling
406a73e7 845
09c8496f 846This pass looks at innermost loops and reorders their instructions
847by overlapping different iterations. Modulo scheduling is performed
507ec136 848immediately before instruction scheduling. The code for this pass is
849located in @file{modulo-sched.c}.
406a73e7 850
4ee9c684 851@item Instruction scheduling
852
853This pass looks for instructions whose output will not be available by
854the time that it is used in subsequent instructions. Memory loads and
855floating point instructions often have this behavior on RISC machines.
856It re-orders instructions within a basic block to try to separate the
857definition and use of items that otherwise would cause pipeline
858stalls. This pass is performed twice, before and after register
507ec136 859allocation. The code for this pass is located in @file{haifa-sched.c},
4ee9c684 860@file{sched-deps.c}, @file{sched-ebb.c}, @file{sched-rgn.c} and
861@file{sched-vis.c}.
862
863@item Register allocation
864
865These passes make sure that all occurrences of pseudo registers are
866eliminated, either by allocating them to a hard register, replacing
867them by an equivalent expression (e.g.@: a constant) or by placing
28993447 868them on the stack. This is done in several subpasses:
869
870@itemize @bullet
c595c96a 871@item
cf709bf6 872The integrated register allocator (@acronym{IRA}). It is called
47dd2e78 873integrated because coalescing, register live range splitting, and hard
874register preferencing are done on-the-fly during coloring. It also
c6a6cdaa 875has better integration with the reload/LRA pass. Pseudo-registers spilled
876by the allocator or the reload/LRA have still a chance to get
877hard-registers if the reload/LRA evicts some pseudo-registers from
47dd2e78 878hard-registers. The allocator helps to choose better pseudos for
879spilling based on their live ranges and to coalesce stack slots
880allocated for the spilled pseudo-registers. IRA is a regional
881register allocator which is transformed into Chaitin-Briggs allocator
882if there is one region. By default, IRA chooses regions using
883register pressure but the user can force it to use one region or
884regions corresponding to all loops.
885
886Source files of the allocator are @file{ira.c}, @file{ira-build.c},
887@file{ira-costs.c}, @file{ira-conflicts.c}, @file{ira-color.c},
888@file{ira-emit.c}, @file{ira-lives}, plus header files @file{ira.h}
889and @file{ira-int.h} used for the communication between the allocator
890and the rest of the compiler and between the IRA files.
891
c595c96a 892@cindex reloading
893@item
894Reloading. This pass renumbers pseudo registers with the hardware
895registers numbers they were allocated. Pseudo registers that did not
896get hard registers are replaced with stack slots. Then it finds
897instructions that are invalid because a value has failed to end up in
898a register, or has ended up in a register of the wrong kind. It fixes
899up these instructions by reloading the problematical values
900temporarily into registers. Additional instructions are generated to
901do the copying.
902
903The reload pass also optionally eliminates the frame pointer and inserts
904instructions to save and restore call-clobbered registers around calls.
905
906Source files are @file{reload.c} and @file{reload1.c}, plus the header
907@file{reload.h} used for communication between them.
c6a6cdaa 908
909@cindex Local Register Allocator (LRA)
910@item
911This pass is a modern replacement of the reload pass. Source files
912are @file{lra.c}, @file{lra-assign.c}, @file{lra-coalesce.c},
913@file{lra-constraints.c}, @file{lra-eliminations.c},
497ba60f 914@file{lra-lives.c}, @file{lra-remat.c}, @file{lra-spills.c}, the
915header @file{lra-int.h} used for communication between them, and the
916header @file{lra.h} used for communication between LRA and the rest of
917compiler.
c6a6cdaa 918
919Unlike the reload pass, intermediate LRA decisions are reflected in
920RTL as much as possible. This reduces the number of target-dependent
921macros and hooks, leaving instruction constraints as the primary
922source of control.
923
924LRA is run on targets for which TARGET_LRA_P returns true.
28993447 925@end itemize
c595c96a 926
4ee9c684 927@item Basic block reordering
c595c96a 928
4ee9c684 929This pass implements profile guided code positioning. If profile
930information is not available, various types of static analysis are
931performed to make the predictions normally coming from the profile
932feedback (IE execution frequency, branch probability, etc). It is
933implemented in the file @file{bb-reorder.c}, and the various
934prediction routines are in @file{predict.c}.
c595c96a 935
4ee9c684 936@item Variable tracking
937
938This pass computes where the variables are stored at each
5923a5e7 939position in code and generates notes describing the variable locations
940to RTL code. The location lists are then generated according to these
941notes to debug information if the debugging information format supports
507ec136 942location lists. The code is located in @file{var-tracking.c}.
5923a5e7 943
4ee9c684 944@item Delayed branch scheduling
5923a5e7 945
4ee9c684 946This optional pass attempts to find instructions that can go into the
507ec136 947delay slots of other instructions, usually jumps and calls. The code
948for this pass is located in @file{reorg.c}.
c595c96a 949
4ee9c684 950@item Branch shortening
951
952On many RISC machines, branch instructions have a limited range.
953Thus, longer sequences of instructions must be used for long branches.
954In this pass, the compiler figures out what how far each instruction
955will be from each other instruction, and therefore whether the usual
956instructions, or the longer sequences, must be used for each branch.
507ec136 957The code for this pass is located in @file{final.c}.
4ee9c684 958
959@item Register-to-stack conversion
c595c96a 960
c595c96a 961Conversion from usage of some hard registers to usage of a register
962stack may be done at this point. Currently, this is supported only
507ec136 963for the floating-point registers of the Intel 80387 coprocessor. The
964code for this pass is located in @file{reg-stack.c}.
c595c96a 965
4ee9c684 966@item Final
c595c96a 967
4ee9c684 968This pass outputs the assembler code for the function. The source files
969are @file{final.c} plus @file{insn-output.c}; the latter is generated
970automatically from the machine description by the tool @file{genoutput}.
971The header file @file{conditions.h} is used for communication between
b1c06ff9 972these files.
c595c96a 973
4ee9c684 974@item Debugging information output
c595c96a 975
4ee9c684 976This is run after final because it must output the stack slot offsets
977for pseudo registers that did not get hard registers. Source files
978are @file{dbxout.c} for DBX symbol table format, @file{sdbout.c} for
979SDB symbol table format, @file{dwarfout.c} for DWARF symbol table
980format, files @file{dwarf2out.c} and @file{dwarf2asm.c} for DWARF2
981symbol table format, and @file{vmsdbgout.c} for VMS debug symbol table
982format.
c595c96a 983
c595c96a 984@end itemize
16e19638 985
986@node Optimization info
987@section Optimization info
988@include optinfo.texi