I'm looking for a simple way to localize certain g++ (g++-4.9 to be specific) compile options to certain lines of code or at least targeted functions. I'm interested generally speaking, but also specifically to the -fast-math, -ffinite-math-only and -fno-signed-zeros options.
I presume that localization at the *.cpp file level is possible with make utility, but I'm hoping there is a way to enable it in the code itself, through #pragma or __attribute__ or something. I want to do this not only to minimize dependencies to external files (i.e. risk of incorrect makefile) but also to hopefully hyperlocalize certain FP behavior to specific equations within a function.
Alternatively, if localization of FP behavior by inline directives is NOT possible, what can I do to at least trigger a compile time error if desired compiler directive is NOT enabled in project build (e.g. makefile is lost or inappropriately modified).
I would presume that such inline optimization might be compiler specific, g++ in this case, but that is a compromise I'm willing to take.
In gcc you can use function attribute optimize:
void f () __attribute__ ((optimize("fast-math"), optimize("finite-math-only"), optimize("no-signed-zeros")));
I'm not sure that you are using the "localize" word correctly. Localization is related to adapting software to users of different human languages (French, Russian, Chinese...)
Perhaps you want to ask the compiler to optimize some functions with other optimization flags.
This is possible using #pragma GCC optimize etc... or using some function attributes
You might be able to turn on some bits of this with the fpmath option in a function attribute, but this was not clear to me from the docs. In light of that, I will focus on detection instead:
-fast-math already turns on -ffinite-math-only, so you don't need to worry about that. The docs for -fast-math say:
This option causes the preprocessor macro FAST_MATH to be
defined.
Which means it can be detected via
#ifndef __FAST_MATH__
#error "The -fast-math compiler option is required"
#endif
I have not yet found a compile-time way to detect the presence of -fno-signed-zeros
Related
Using "Gnu Arm Embedded Toolchain", it seems that I need to have both this statement in my .c file:
__attribute__ ((section("section_name"),used))
and this statement in my .ld file:
KEEP(sectionname)
in order for that particular section to not get removed by linker garbage collection (--gc-sections).
Can anyone explain why or guide me to some documentation mentioning this?
Both compiler and linker may remove functions which they consider to be unused (which usually means not reachable from main) so to preserve a function you need to inform both of the tools.
In theory compiler could automatically generate KEEP statements based on used attributes but this isn't done for historical reasons.
I want to know if it is possible to select different parts of my Fortran 95 routine to compile.
For example, if I pass certain flag to gfortran, then the compiler chooses which section to use for a certain function. I know I can do it using if inside the routine, but the drawback is that I don't want the program to run the if all the time due to speed concerns. I suppose solution should be similar to this one
I am working specifically with a program that calculates energies in a many-body system (say, a million). Then I don't want to put an if each time that I need to use a different energy definition at compilation time.
I hope this is possible and that my question is clear.
You can use the C like preprocessor. The -cpp command line option to your command line. That option is not turned on by default (As per Vladimir F comment below), although it looks like using the .F90 filename extension (i.e. capital F, instead of .f90) will do the trick without the -cpp option.
Details about the option:
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gfortran/Preprocessing-Options.html
Then you can do the same as you pointed out, so the:
#ifdef <some-var>
code when <some-var> is true
#elif defined(<other-var>)
code when <other-var> is true
#endif
As required.
There are more examples on this page with actual code.
Also, like with C/C++, you can define macros on your command line with the-D option:
gfortran -DCASE1=3 ...
This will define CASE1 with the value 3. If you do not specify the value, then 1 is automatically assigned to the macro. This is documented on the same page.
I am using GCC 4.6 as part of the lpcxpresso ide for a Cortex embedded processor. I have very limited code size, especially when compiling in debug mode. Using attribute((always_inline)) has so far proven to be a good tool to inline trivial functions and this saves a lot of code bloat in debug mode while still maintaining readability. I expect it to be somewhat mainstream and supported in the future because it is mentioned here http://infocenter.arm.com/help/index.jsp?topic=/com.arm.doc.dui0348c/CIAJGAIH.html
Now to my question: Is this the correct Syntax for declaring a Lambda always inline?
#define ALWAYS_INLINE __attribute__((always_inline))
[](volatile int &i)ALWAYS_INLINE{i++;}
It does work, my question is will it continue to work in future and what can I do to ensure it works in the future. If I ever switch to another major compiler that supports c++11 will I find a similar keyword which I can replace the attribute((always_inline)) with?
If I were to meet my fairy godmother I would wish for a compiler directive which causes all lambdas which are constructed as temporaries with empty constructors and bound by reference to be automatically inlined even in debug mode. Any ideas?
Will it continue to work in future?
Likely but, always_inline is compiler specific and since there is no standard specifying its exact behavior with lambda, there is no guaranty that this will continue to work in the future.
What can I do to ensure it works?
This depends on the compiler not you. If a future version drops support for always_inline with lambda, you have to stick with a version that works or code your own preprocessor that inlines lambdas with an always_inline-like keyword.
If I ever switch to another major compiler that supports c++11 will I
find a similar keyword?
Likely but again, there is no guaranty. The only real standard is the C++ inline keyword and it is not applicable to lambdas. For non-lambda it only suggests inlining and tells the compiler that a function may be defined in different compile units.
Is there any way to tell the compiler (gcc/mingw32) when building an object file (lib*.o) to only expose certain functions from the .c file?
The reason I want to do this is that I am statically linking to a 100,000+ line library (SQLite), but am only using a select few of the functions it offers. I am hoping that if I can tell the compiler to only expose those functions, it will optimize out all the code of the functions that are never needed for those few I selected, thus dratically decreasing the size of the library.
I found several possible solutions:
This is what I asked about. It is the gcc equivalent of Windows' dllexpoort:
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.6.1/gcc/Code-Gen-Options.html (-fvisibility)
http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/Visibility
I also discovered link-time code-generation. This allows the linker to see what parts of the code are actually used and get rid of the rest. Using this together with strip and -fwhole-program has given me drastically better results.
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.6.1/gcc/Optimize-Options.html (see -flto and -fwhole-program)
Note: This flag only makes sense if you are not compiling the whole program in one call to gcc, which is what I was doing (making a sqlite.o file and then statically linking it in).
The third option which I found but have not yet looked into is mentioned here:
How to remove unused C/C++ symbols with GCC and ld?
That's probably the linkers job, not the compilers. When linking that as a program (.exe), the linker will take care of only importing the relevant symbols, and when linking a DLL, the __dllexport mechanism is probably what you are looking for, or some flags of ld can help you (man ld).
I don't know how feasible it is and how sensible is this question here.
Is there any changes that we can make in makefile to recommend GCC inline all the function although the functions are not inlined during the declaration or nowhere in the source file.
There are a few ways you can make gcc inline functions. One of them is the option -finline-functions, which will make gcc inline "simple" functions. The compiler uses some heuristics to determine whether the function is small enough to be inlined. However, the user has some control over this algorithm through -finline-limit. Read the gcc manual to find the actual values you need.
When inlining functions you should remember that obviously not all functions can be inlined (the simplest example being recursive functions) and the compiler can inline only functions defined within the same translation unit. Also, it is worth mentioning that -finline-functions is on by default at -O3, so just -O3 may sometimes be your solution.
In the makefile you will have to add the right options to all calls to gcc. In a well written makefile you'll easily spot variables with other gcc options, where you can simply place your own.
The gcc -finline_functions option sounds like it might do what you want. Here is some documentation. If your makefile defines a CFLAGS variable, that would be the place to put it.