Re: Speedy compilers

Rudi.Ziegaus@bingo.baynet.de (Rudi Ziegaus) writes:
>
>[ re how much people care about compile speed vs. runtime speed ]
>
>There is a golden rule to code optimization, that I like to cite :
>"Never use it". [snip]...


Sorry, but your golden rule is not an option that you have.


Just generating in-line code is an optimization; we used to generate
subroutine calls.


And generating subroutine calls, when we did that, was an
optimization; we used to generate pseudo code to drive an interpreter
(and for some languages we still do for things like format lists).


And doing our own assembly was an optimization; we used to cascade to a
separate assembler product.


And dead code elimination, and common-expressions, and ...


For HLLs you are stuck with optimizations, lots of them. There are
only a few optimizations where their resource requirements are such
that you have control over their use.


Dick W
[I think the message here is that compilers that work are preferable to
compilers that don't. -John]

Return to the comp.compilers page.
Search the comp.compilers archives again.