Re: Compiler Verification/Optimization

> What options are available for compiler optimization and
> verification? So far I have only come across one company called
> NullStone. Surely there is competition out there.
>
> Or how about gcc? Where can the test suites that gcc/egcs
> uses be found? If you have any other tips/ideas on this, please let
> me know.
>
>
You can find GCC test suite at
          http://gcc.gnu.org/testresults/


In general,the validity that a given compiler will generate
correct output for all possible inputs in its language domain
depends(partly) on complexity of the language.For a language like
fortran-90 in which I was involved,one way was to generalize the
problem for a given particular feature(i.e consider exhaustively
the usage scenarios of a feature.This is made easier by refering
the ISO standard.)Then test cases would be written for these usage
scenarios. The process of making the complete test suite is indeed
time consuming and I am not aware any tool to simplify the task.


Optimization is another tricky business.There can be highly
optimizing compilers but I think they impose a penality in terms
of greater compilation times.Personally I feel compiler
should do only safe optimizations because verifying that an
optimization had no side effects is a painful exercise.


Perhaps, I would be able to share more information if the precise
context could be given.


Regards,
Naveen Sharma

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