1 @c Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
2 @c 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 @c This is part of the GCC manual.
4 @c For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi.
7 @chapter Passes and Files of the Compiler
8 @cindex passes and files of the compiler
9 @cindex files and passes of the compiler
10 @cindex compiler passes and files
12 @cindex top level of compiler
13 The overall control structure of the compiler is in @file{toplev.c}. This
14 file is responsible for initialization, decoding arguments, opening and
15 closing files, and sequencing the passes. Routines for emitting
16 diagnostic messages are defined in @file{diagnostic.c}. The files
17 @file{pretty-print.h} and @file{pretty-print.c} provide basic support
18 for language-independent pretty-printing.
21 The parsing pass is invoked only once, to parse the entire input. A
22 high level tree representation is then generated from the input,
23 one function at a time. This tree code is then transformed into RTL
24 intermediate code, and processed. The files involved in transforming
25 the trees into RTL are @file{expr.c}, @file{expmed.c}, and
27 @c Note, the above files aren't strictly the only files involved. It's
28 @c all over the place (function.c, final.c,etc). However, those are
29 @c the files that are supposed to be directly involved, and have
30 @c their purpose listed as such, so i've only listed them.
31 The order of trees that are processed, is not
32 necessarily the same order they are generated from
33 the input, due to deferred inlining, and other considerations.
35 @findex rest_of_compilation
36 @findex rest_of_decl_compilation
37 Each time the parsing pass reads a complete function definition or
38 top-level declaration, it calls either the function
39 @code{rest_of_compilation}, or the function
40 @code{rest_of_decl_compilation} in @file{toplev.c}, which are
41 responsible for all further processing necessary, ending with output of
42 the assembler language. All other compiler passes run, in sequence,
43 within @code{rest_of_compilation}. When that function returns from
44 compiling a function definition, the storage used for that function
45 definition's compilation is entirely freed, unless it is an inline
46 function, or was deferred for some reason (this can occur in
47 templates, for example).
48 (@pxref{Inline,,An Inline Function is As Fast As a Macro,gcc,Using the
49 GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)}).
51 Here is a list of all the passes of the compiler and their source files.
52 Also included is a description of where debugging dumps can be requested
53 with @option{-d} options.
57 Parsing. This pass reads the entire text of a function definition,
58 constructing a high level tree representation. (Because of the semantic
59 analysis that takes place during this pass, it does more than is
60 formally considered to be parsing.)
62 The tree representation does not entirely follow C syntax, because it is
63 intended to support other languages as well.
65 Language-specific data type analysis is also done in this pass, and every
66 tree node that represents an expression has a data type attached.
67 Variables are represented as declaration nodes.
69 The language-independent source files for parsing are
70 @file{tree.c}, @file{fold-const.c}, and @file{stor-layout.c}.
71 There are also header files @file{tree.h} and @file{tree.def}
72 which define the format of the tree representation.
74 C preprocessing, for language front ends, that want or require it, is
75 performed by cpplib, which is covered in separate documentation. In
76 particular, the internals are covered in @xref{Top, ,Cpplib internals,
77 cppinternals, Cpplib Internals}.
79 The source files to parse C are found in the toplevel directory, and
80 by convention are named @file{c-*}. Some of these are also used by
81 the other C-like languages: @file{c-common.c},
90 @file{c-cppbuiltin.c},
98 Files specific to each language are in subdirectories named after the
99 language in question, like @file{ada}, @file{objc}, @file{cp} (for C++).
101 @cindex Tree optimization
103 Tree optimization. This is the optimization of the tree
104 representation, before converting into RTL code.
106 @cindex inline on trees, automatic
107 Currently, the main optimization performed here is tree-based
109 This is implemented in @file{tree-inline.c} and used by both C and C++.
110 Note that tree based inlining turns off rtx based inlining (since it's more
111 powerful, it would be a waste of time to do rtx based inlining in
114 @cindex constant folding
115 @cindex arithmetic simplifications
116 @cindex simplifications, arithmetic
117 Constant folding and some arithmetic simplifications are also done
118 during this pass, on the tree representation.
119 The routines that perform these tasks are located in @file{fold-const.c}.
121 @cindex RTL generation
123 RTL generation. This is the conversion of syntax tree into RTL code.
125 @cindex target-parameter-dependent code
126 This is where the bulk of target-parameter-dependent code is found,
127 since often it is necessary for strategies to apply only when certain
128 standard kinds of instructions are available. The purpose of named
129 instruction patterns is to provide this information to the RTL
132 @cindex tail recursion optimization
133 Optimization is done in this pass for @code{if}-conditions that are
134 comparisons, boolean operations or conditional expressions. Tail
135 recursion is detected at this time also. Decisions are made about how
136 best to arrange loops and how to output @code{switch} statements.
138 @c Avoiding overfull is tricky here.
139 The source files for RTL generation include
147 and @file{emit-rtl.c}.
149 @file{insn-emit.c}, generated from the machine description by the
150 program @code{genemit}, is used in this pass. The header file
151 @file{expr.h} is used for communication within this pass.
155 The header files @file{insn-flags.h} and @file{insn-codes.h},
156 generated from the machine description by the programs @code{genflags}
157 and @code{gencodes}, tell this pass which standard names are available
158 for use and which patterns correspond to them.
160 Aside from debugging information output, none of the following passes
161 refers to the tree structure representation of the function (only
162 part of which is saved).
164 @cindex inline on rtx, automatic
165 The decision of whether the function can and should be expanded inline
166 in its subsequent callers is made at the end of rtl generation. The
167 function must meet certain criteria, currently related to the size of
168 the function and the types and number of parameters it has. Note that
169 this function may contain loops, recursive calls to itself
170 (tail-recursive functions can be inlined!), gotos, in short, all
171 constructs supported by GCC@. The file @file{integrate.c} contains
172 the code to save a function's rtl for later inlining and to inline that
173 rtl when the function is called. The header file @file{integrate.h}
174 is also used for this purpose.
177 The option @option{-dr} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
178 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.rtl} to
181 @c Should the exception handling pass be talked about here?
183 @cindex sibling call optimization
185 Sibling call optimization. This pass performs tail recursion
186 elimination, and tail and sibling call optimizations. The purpose of
187 these optimizations is to reduce the overhead of function calls,
190 The source file of this pass is @file{sibcall.c}
193 The option @option{-di} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
194 this pass is run. This dump file's name is made by appending
195 @samp{.sibling} to the input file name.
197 @cindex jump optimization
198 @cindex unreachable code
201 Jump optimization. This pass simplifies jumps to the following
202 instruction, jumps across jumps, and jumps to jumps. It deletes
203 unreferenced labels and unreachable code, except that unreachable code
204 that contains a loop is not recognized as unreachable in this pass.
205 (Such loops are deleted later in the basic block analysis.) It also
206 converts some code originally written with jumps into sequences of
207 instructions that directly set values from the results of comparisons,
208 if the machine has such instructions.
210 Jump optimization is performed two or three times. The first time is
211 immediately following RTL generation. The second time is after CSE,
212 but only if CSE says repeated jump optimization is needed. The
213 last time is right before the final pass. That time, cross-jumping
214 and deletion of no-op move instructions are done together with the
215 optimizations described above.
217 The source file of this pass is @file{jump.c}.
220 The option @option{-dj} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
221 this pass is run for the first time. This dump file's name is made by
222 appending @samp{.jump} to the input file name.
225 @cindex register use analysis
227 Register scan. This pass finds the first and last use of each
228 register, as a guide for common subexpression elimination. Its source
229 is in @file{regclass.c}.
231 @cindex jump threading
233 @opindex fthread-jumps
234 Jump threading. This pass detects a condition jump that branches to an
235 identical or inverse test. Such jumps can be @samp{threaded} through
236 the second conditional test. The source code for this pass is in
237 @file{jump.c}. This optimization is only performed if
238 @option{-fthread-jumps} is enabled.
240 @cindex common subexpression elimination
241 @cindex constant propagation
243 Common subexpression elimination. This pass also does constant
244 propagation. Its source files are @file{cse.c}, and @file{cselib.c}.
245 If constant propagation causes conditional jumps to become
246 unconditional or to become no-ops, jump optimization is run again when
250 The option @option{-ds} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
251 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.cse} to
254 @cindex global common subexpression elimination
255 @cindex constant propagation
256 @cindex copy propagation
258 Global common subexpression elimination. This pass performs two
259 different types of GCSE depending on whether you are optimizing for
260 size or not (LCM based GCSE tends to increase code size for a gain in
261 speed, while Morel-Renvoise based GCSE does not).
262 When optimizing for size, GCSE is done using Morel-Renvoise Partial
263 Redundancy Elimination, with the exception that it does not try to move
264 invariants out of loops---that is left to the loop optimization pass.
265 If MR PRE GCSE is done, code hoisting (aka unification) is also done, as
267 If you are optimizing for speed, LCM (lazy code motion) based GCSE is
268 done. LCM is based on the work of Knoop, Ruthing, and Steffen. LCM
269 based GCSE also does loop invariant code motion. We also perform load
270 and store motion when optimizing for speed.
271 Regardless of which type of GCSE is used, the GCSE pass also performs
272 global constant and copy propagation.
274 The source file for this pass is @file{gcse.c}, and the LCM routines
278 The option @option{-dG} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
279 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.gcse} to
282 @cindex loop optimization
284 @cindex strength-reduction
286 Loop optimization. This pass moves constant expressions out of loops,
287 and optionally does strength-reduction and loop unrolling as well.
288 Its source files are @file{loop.c} and @file{unroll.c}, plus the header
289 @file{loop.h} used for communication between them. Loop unrolling uses
290 some functions in @file{integrate.c} and the header @file{integrate.h}.
291 Loop dependency analysis routines are contained in @file{dependence.c}.
293 Second loop optimization pass takes care of basic block level optimizations --
294 unrolling, peeling and unswitching loops. The source files are
295 @file{cfgloopanal.c} and @file{cfgloopmanip.c} containing generic loop
296 analysis and manipulation code, @file{loop-init.c} with initialization and
297 finalization code, @file{loop-unswitch.c} for loop unswitching and
298 @file{loop-unroll.c} for loop unrolling and peeling.
301 The option @option{-dL} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
302 these passes. The dump file names are made by appending @samp{.loop} and
303 @samp{.loop2} to the input file name.
305 @cindex jump bypassing
307 Jump bypassing. This pass is an aggressive form of GCSE that transforms
308 the control flow graph of a function by propagating constants into
309 conditional branch instructions.
311 The source file for this pass is @file{gcse.c}.
314 The option @option{-dG} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
315 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.bypass}
316 to the input file name.
318 @cindex web construction
320 Simple optimization pass that splits independent uses of each pseudo
321 increasing effect of other optimizations. This can improve effect of the
322 other transformation, such as CSE or register allocation.
323 Its source files are @file{web.c}.
326 The option @option{-dZ} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
327 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.web} to
331 @opindex frerun-cse-after-loop
332 If @option{-frerun-cse-after-loop} was enabled, a second common
333 subexpression elimination pass is performed after the loop optimization
334 pass. Jump threading is also done again at this time if it was specified.
337 The option @option{-dt} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
338 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.cse2} to
341 @cindex data flow analysis
342 @cindex analysis, data flow
345 Data flow analysis (@file{flow.c}). This pass divides the program
346 into basic blocks (and in the process deletes unreachable loops); then
347 it computes which pseudo-registers are live at each point in the
348 program, and makes the first instruction that uses a value point at
349 the instruction that computed the value.
351 @cindex autoincrement/decrement analysis
352 This pass also deletes computations whose results are never used, and
353 combines memory references with add or subtract instructions to make
354 autoincrement or autodecrement addressing.
357 The option @option{-df} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
358 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.flow} to
359 the input file name. If stupid register allocation is in use, this
360 dump file reflects the full results of such allocation.
362 @cindex instruction combination
364 Instruction combination (@file{combine.c}). This pass attempts to
365 combine groups of two or three instructions that are related by data
366 flow into single instructions. It combines the RTL expressions for
367 the instructions by substitution, simplifies the result using algebra,
368 and then attempts to match the result against the machine description.
371 The option @option{-dc} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
372 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.combine}
373 to the input file name.
375 @cindex if conversion
377 If-conversion is a transformation that transforms control dependencies
378 into data dependencies (IE it transforms conditional code into a
379 single control stream).
380 It is implemented in the file @file{ifcvt.c}.
383 The option @option{-dE} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
384 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.ce} to
387 @cindex register movement
389 Register movement (@file{regmove.c}). This pass looks for cases where
390 matching constraints would force an instruction to need a reload, and
391 this reload would be a register-to-register move. It then attempts
392 to change the registers used by the instruction to avoid the move
396 The option @option{-dN} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
397 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.regmove}
398 to the input file name.
400 @cindex instruction scheduling
401 @cindex scheduling, instruction
403 Instruction scheduling (@file{sched.c}). This pass looks for
404 instructions whose output will not be available by the time that it is
405 used in subsequent instructions. (Memory loads and floating point
406 instructions often have this behavior on RISC machines). It re-orders
407 instructions within a basic block to try to separate the definition and
408 use of items that otherwise would cause pipeline stalls.
410 Instruction scheduling is performed twice. The first time is immediately
411 after instruction combination and the second is immediately after reload.
414 The option @option{-dS} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after this
415 pass is run for the first time. The dump file's name is made by
416 appending @samp{.sched} to the input file name.
418 @cindex register allocation
420 Register allocation. These passes make sure that all occurrences of pseudo
421 registers are eliminated, either by allocating them to a hard register,
422 replacing them by an equivalent expression (e.g.@: a constant) or by placing
423 them on the stack. This is done in several subpasses:
426 @cindex register class preference pass
428 Register class preferencing. The RTL code is scanned to find out
429 which register class is best for each pseudo register. The source
430 file is @file{regclass.c}.
432 @cindex local register allocation
434 Local register allocation (@file{local-alloc.c}). This pass allocates
435 hard registers to pseudo registers that are used only within one basic
436 block. Because the basic block is linear, it can use fast and
437 powerful techniques to do a very good job.
440 The option @option{-dl} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
441 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.lreg} to
444 @cindex global register allocation
446 Global register allocation (@file{global.c}). This pass
447 allocates hard registers for the remaining pseudo registers (those
448 whose life spans are not contained in one basic block).
450 @cindex graph coloring register allocation
454 Graph coloring register allocator. The files @file{ra.c}, @file{ra-build.c},
455 @file{ra-colorize.c}, @file{ra-debug.c}, @file{ra-rewrite.c} together with
456 the header @file{ra.h} contain another register allocator, which is used
457 when the option @option{-fnew-ra} is given. In that case it is run instead
458 of the above mentioned local and global register allocation passes, and the
459 option @option{-dl} causes a debugging dump of its work.
463 Reloading. This pass renumbers pseudo registers with the hardware
464 registers numbers they were allocated. Pseudo registers that did not
465 get hard registers are replaced with stack slots. Then it finds
466 instructions that are invalid because a value has failed to end up in
467 a register, or has ended up in a register of the wrong kind. It fixes
468 up these instructions by reloading the problematical values
469 temporarily into registers. Additional instructions are generated to
472 The reload pass also optionally eliminates the frame pointer and inserts
473 instructions to save and restore call-clobbered registers around calls.
475 Source files are @file{reload.c} and @file{reload1.c}, plus the header
476 @file{reload.h} used for communication between them.
479 The option @option{-dg} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
480 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.greg} to
484 @cindex instruction scheduling
485 @cindex scheduling, instruction
487 Instruction scheduling is repeated here to try to avoid pipeline stalls
488 due to memory loads generated for spilled pseudo registers.
491 The option @option{-dR} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
492 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.sched2}
493 to the input file name.
495 @cindex basic block reordering
496 @cindex reordering, block
498 Basic block reordering. This pass implements profile guided code
499 positioning. If profile information is not available, various types of
500 static analysis are performed to make the predictions normally coming
501 from the profile feedback (IE execution frequency, branch probability,
502 etc). It is implemented in the file @file{bb-reorder.c}, and the
503 various prediction routines are in @file{predict.c}.
506 The option @option{-dB} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
507 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.bbro} to
510 @cindex delayed branch scheduling
511 @cindex scheduling, delayed branch
513 Delayed branch scheduling. This optional pass attempts to find
514 instructions that can go into the delay slots of other instructions,
515 usually jumps and calls. The source file name is @file{reorg.c}.
518 The option @option{-dd} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
519 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.dbr}
520 to the input file name.
522 @cindex branch shortening
524 Branch shortening. On many RISC machines, branch instructions have a
525 limited range. Thus, longer sequences of instructions must be used for
526 long branches. In this pass, the compiler figures out what how far each
527 instruction will be from each other instruction, and therefore whether
528 the usual instructions, or the longer sequences, must be used for each
531 @cindex register-to-stack conversion
533 Conversion from usage of some hard registers to usage of a register
534 stack may be done at this point. Currently, this is supported only
535 for the floating-point registers of the Intel 80387 coprocessor. The
536 source file name is @file{reg-stack.c}.
539 The options @option{-dk} causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
540 this pass. This dump file's name is made by appending @samp{.stack}
541 to the input file name.
544 @cindex peephole optimization
546 Final. This pass outputs the assembler code for the function. It is
547 also responsible for identifying spurious test and compare
548 instructions. Machine-specific peephole optimizations are performed
549 at the same time. The function entry and exit sequences are generated
550 directly as assembler code in this pass; they never exist as RTL@.
552 The source files are @file{final.c} plus @file{insn-output.c}; the
553 latter is generated automatically from the machine description by the
554 tool @file{genoutput}. The header file @file{conditions.h} is used
555 for communication between these files.
557 @cindex debugging information generation
559 Debugging information output. This is run after final because it must
560 output the stack slot offsets for pseudo registers that did not get
561 hard registers. Source files are @file{dbxout.c} for DBX symbol table
562 format, @file{sdbout.c} for SDB symbol table format, @file{dwarfout.c}
563 for DWARF symbol table format, files @file{dwarf2out.c} and
564 @file{dwarf2asm.c} for DWARF2 symbol table format, and @file{vmsdbgout.c}
565 for VMS debug symbol table format.
568 Some additional files are used by all or many passes:
572 Every pass uses @file{machmode.def} and @file{machmode.h} which define
576 Several passes use @file{real.h}, which defines the default
577 representation of floating point constants and how to operate on them.
580 All the passes that work with RTL use the header files @file{rtl.h}
581 and @file{rtl.def}, and subroutines in file @file{rtl.c}. The tools
582 @code{gen*} also use these files to read and work with the machine
586 All the tools that read the machine description use support routines
587 found in @file{gensupport.c}, @file{errors.c}, and @file{read-rtl.c}.
591 Several passes refer to the header file @file{insn-config.h} which
592 contains a few parameters (C macro definitions) generated
593 automatically from the machine description RTL by the tool
596 @cindex instruction recognizer
598 Several passes use the instruction recognizer, which consists of
599 @file{recog.c} and @file{recog.h}, plus the files @file{insn-recog.c}
600 and @file{insn-extract.c} that are generated automatically from the
601 machine description by the tools @file{genrecog} and
605 Several passes use the header files @file{regs.h} which defines the
606 information recorded about pseudo register usage, and @file{basic-block.h}
607 which defines the information recorded about basic blocks.
610 @file{hard-reg-set.h} defines the type @code{HARD_REG_SET}, a bit-vector
611 with a bit for each hard register, and some macros to manipulate it.
612 This type is just @code{int} if the machine has few enough hard registers;
613 otherwise it is an array of @code{int} and some of the macros expand
617 Several passes use instruction attributes. A definition of the
618 attributes defined for a particular machine is in file
619 @file{insn-attr.h}, which is generated from the machine description by
620 the program @file{genattr}. The file @file{insn-attrtab.c} contains
621 subroutines to obtain the attribute values for insns and information
622 about processor pipeline characteristics for the instruction
623 scheduler. It is generated from the machine description by the
624 program @file{genattrtab}.