Re: Don't trust your optimizer :-)

From:
=?windows-1252?Q?Daniel_Kr=FCgler?= <daniel.kruegler@googlemail.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++.moderated
Date:
Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:03:21 CST
Message-ID:
<ibte9h$gog$1@news.eternal-september.org>
On 13.11.2010 03:59, Joshua Maurice wrote:

On Nov 12, 7:42 am, Falk Tannh?user<clcppm-pos...@this.is.invalid>
wrote:

Am 11.11.2010 14:02, schrieb restor:

Or, you might want to emulate a program being hung by writing:

    for(;;){}

even that can be optimized away. If one of these aspects is crucial to
your program, like times when certain lines of code get executed,
optimizer becomes your enemy: after all its purpose is to change (some
aspects of) the meaning of the program.


The endless loop can't be optimised away by a Standard conforming

compiler, as

it would lead to (potentially observable) execution of the statement

following

the loop.

However, a compiler has the right to optimise away the loop
    for(unsigned long long i = 0;
        i< std::numeric_limits<unsigned long long>::max();
        ++i) {}
which otherwise is likely to run until long after we all are dead, even

on a

modern desktop machine. FWIW GCC 4.5.0 does this optimisation when given

-O2 (or

higher) option.


Actually, I wish this was the case.


I assume this refers to the endless loop case, right?

AFAIK, this is the case for C++98
and C++03. However, the wording has been changed in some of the newer
drafts, much to the dismay of many on these boards, including myself.
Specifically, one of the new C++0x drafts specifically says that the
compiler /can/ optimize away endless loops, such as:
    for (;;);


Well, this is correct as written, because the loop alone does not induce
observable behavior. Can you give a more specific example program that
would demonstrate such a difference and that would also show that these
rules have negative aspects? For the discussion assume that the most
recently approved constraints would hold as addition to 1.10:

<quote>
The implementation is allowed to assume that any thread will eventually
do one of the following:

         * terminate,
         * make a call to a library I/O function,
         * access or modify a volatile object, or
         * perform a synchronization operation or an atomic operation.

      [ Note: This is intended to allow compiler transformations, such as
removal of empty loops, even when termination cannot be proven. ? end note ]
</quote>

and assume a strike of the current 6.5p5.

Here's a post I made on comp.std.c++ about the issue. More details can
be found there.


http://groups.google.com/group/comp.std.c++/browse_thread/thread/fb0f396824b
9a801#

I did look into that, but could not find an answer to my previous question.

Greetings from Bremen,

Daniel Kr?gler

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