686 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
686 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
@c -*-texinfo-*-
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@c Copyright (C) 2001-2015 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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@c This is part of the GCC manual.
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@c For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi.
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@c ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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@c Control Flow Graph
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@c ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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@node Control Flow
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@chapter Control Flow Graph
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@cindex CFG, Control Flow Graph
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@findex basic-block.h
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A control flow graph (CFG) is a data structure built on top of the
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intermediate code representation (the RTL or @code{GIMPLE} instruction
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stream) abstracting the control flow behavior of a function that is
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being compiled. The CFG is a directed graph where the vertices
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represent basic blocks and edges represent possible transfer of
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control flow from one basic block to another. The data structures
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used to represent the control flow graph are defined in
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@file{basic-block.h}.
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In GCC, the representation of control flow is maintained throughout
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the compilation process, from constructing the CFG early in
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@code{pass_build_cfg} to @code{pass_free_cfg} (see @file{passes.def}).
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The CFG takes various different modes and may undergo extensive
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manipulations, but the graph is always valid between its construction
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and its release. This way, transfer of information such as data flow,
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a measured profile, or the loop tree, can be propagated through the
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passes pipeline, and even from @code{GIMPLE} to @code{RTL}.
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Often the CFG may be better viewed as integral part of instruction
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chain, than structure built on the top of it. Updating the compiler's
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intermediate representation for instructions can not be easily done
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without proper maintenance of the CFG simultaneously.
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@menu
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* Basic Blocks:: The definition and representation of basic blocks.
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* Edges:: Types of edges and their representation.
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* Profile information:: Representation of frequencies and probabilities.
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* Maintaining the CFG:: Keeping the control flow graph and up to date.
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* Liveness information:: Using and maintaining liveness information.
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@end menu
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@node Basic Blocks
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@section Basic Blocks
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@cindex basic block
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@findex basic_block
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A basic block is a straight-line sequence of code with only one entry
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point and only one exit. In GCC, basic blocks are represented using
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the @code{basic_block} data type.
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@findex ENTRY_BLOCK_PTR, EXIT_BLOCK_PTR
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Special basic blocks represent possible entry and exit points of a
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function. These blocks are called @code{ENTRY_BLOCK_PTR} and
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@code{EXIT_BLOCK_PTR}. These blocks do not contain any code.
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@findex BASIC_BLOCK
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The @code{BASIC_BLOCK} array contains all basic blocks in an
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unspecified order. Each @code{basic_block} structure has a field
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that holds a unique integer identifier @code{index} that is the
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index of the block in the @code{BASIC_BLOCK} array.
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The total number of basic blocks in the function is
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@code{n_basic_blocks}. Both the basic block indices and
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the total number of basic blocks may vary during the compilation
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process, as passes reorder, create, duplicate, and destroy basic
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blocks. The index for any block should never be greater than
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@code{last_basic_block}. The indices 0 and 1 are special codes
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reserved for @code{ENTRY_BLOCK} and @code{EXIT_BLOCK}, the
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indices of @code{ENTRY_BLOCK_PTR} and @code{EXIT_BLOCK_PTR}.
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@findex next_bb, prev_bb, FOR_EACH_BB, FOR_ALL_BB
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Two pointer members of the @code{basic_block} structure are the
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pointers @code{next_bb} and @code{prev_bb}. These are used to keep
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doubly linked chain of basic blocks in the same order as the
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underlying instruction stream. The chain of basic blocks is updated
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transparently by the provided API for manipulating the CFG@. The macro
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@code{FOR_EACH_BB} can be used to visit all the basic blocks in
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lexicographical order, except @code{ENTRY_BLOCK} and @code{EXIT_BLOCK}.
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The macro @code{FOR_ALL_BB} also visits all basic blocks in
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lexicographical order, including @code{ENTRY_BLOCK} and @code{EXIT_BLOCK}.
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@findex post_order_compute, inverted_post_order_compute, walk_dominator_tree
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The functions @code{post_order_compute} and @code{inverted_post_order_compute}
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can be used to compute topological orders of the CFG. The orders are
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stored as vectors of basic block indices. The @code{BASIC_BLOCK} array
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can be used to iterate each basic block by index.
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Dominator traversals are also possible using
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@code{walk_dominator_tree}. Given two basic blocks A and B, block A
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dominates block B if A is @emph{always} executed before B@.
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Each @code{basic_block} also contains pointers to the first
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instruction (the @dfn{head}) and the last instruction (the @dfn{tail})
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or @dfn{end} of the instruction stream contained in a basic block. In
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fact, since the @code{basic_block} data type is used to represent
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blocks in both major intermediate representations of GCC (@code{GIMPLE}
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and RTL), there are pointers to the head and end of a basic block for
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both representations, stored in intermediate representation specific
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data in the @code{il} field of @code{struct basic_block_def}.
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@findex CODE_LABEL
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@findex NOTE_INSN_BASIC_BLOCK
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For RTL, these pointers are @code{BB_HEAD} and @code{BB_END}.
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@cindex insn notes, notes
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@findex NOTE_INSN_BASIC_BLOCK
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In the RTL representation of a function, the instruction stream
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contains not only the ``real'' instructions, but also @dfn{notes}
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or @dfn{insn notes} (to distinguish them from @dfn{reg notes}).
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Any function that moves or duplicates the basic blocks needs
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to take care of updating of these notes. Many of these notes expect
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that the instruction stream consists of linear regions, so updating
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can sometimes be tedious. All types of insn notes are defined
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in @file{insn-notes.def}.
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In the RTL function representation, the instructions contained in a
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basic block always follow a @code{NOTE_INSN_BASIC_BLOCK}, but zero
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or more @code{CODE_LABEL} nodes can precede the block note.
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A basic block ends with a control flow instruction or with the last
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instruction before the next @code{CODE_LABEL} or
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@code{NOTE_INSN_BASIC_BLOCK}.
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By definition, a @code{CODE_LABEL} cannot appear in the middle of
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the instruction stream of a basic block.
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@findex can_fallthru
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@cindex table jump
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In addition to notes, the jump table vectors are also represented as
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``pseudo-instructions'' inside the insn stream. These vectors never
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appear in the basic block and should always be placed just after the
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table jump instructions referencing them. After removing the
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table-jump it is often difficult to eliminate the code computing the
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address and referencing the vector, so cleaning up these vectors is
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postponed until after liveness analysis. Thus the jump table vectors
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may appear in the insn stream unreferenced and without any purpose.
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Before any edge is made @dfn{fall-thru}, the existence of such
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construct in the way needs to be checked by calling
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@code{can_fallthru} function.
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@cindex GIMPLE statement iterators
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For the @code{GIMPLE} representation, the PHI nodes and statements
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contained in a basic block are in a @code{gimple_seq} pointed to by
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the basic block intermediate language specific pointers.
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Abstract containers and iterators are used to access the PHI nodes
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and statements in a basic blocks. These iterators are called
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@dfn{GIMPLE statement iterators} (GSIs). Grep for @code{^gsi}
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in the various @file{gimple-*} and @file{tree-*} files.
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There is a @code{gimple_stmt_iterator} type for iterating over
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all kinds of statement, and a @code{gphi_iterator} subclass for
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iterating over PHI nodes.
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The following snippet will pretty-print all PHI nodes the statements
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of the current function in the GIMPLE representation.
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@smallexample
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basic_block bb;
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FOR_EACH_BB (bb)
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@{
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gphi_iterator pi;
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gimple_stmt_iterator si;
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for (pi = gsi_start_phis (bb); !gsi_end_p (pi); gsi_next (&pi))
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@{
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gphi *phi = pi.phi ();
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print_gimple_stmt (dump_file, phi, 0, TDF_SLIM);
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@}
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for (si = gsi_start_bb (bb); !gsi_end_p (si); gsi_next (&si))
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@{
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gimple stmt = gsi_stmt (si);
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print_gimple_stmt (dump_file, stmt, 0, TDF_SLIM);
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@}
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@}
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@end smallexample
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@node Edges
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@section Edges
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@cindex edge in the flow graph
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@findex edge
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Edges represent possible control flow transfers from the end of some
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basic block A to the head of another basic block B@. We say that A is
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a predecessor of B, and B is a successor of A@. Edges are represented
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in GCC with the @code{edge} data type. Each @code{edge} acts as a
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link between two basic blocks: The @code{src} member of an edge
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points to the predecessor basic block of the @code{dest} basic block.
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The members @code{preds} and @code{succs} of the @code{basic_block} data
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type point to type-safe vectors of edges to the predecessors and
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successors of the block.
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@cindex edge iterators
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When walking the edges in an edge vector, @dfn{edge iterators} should
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be used. Edge iterators are constructed using the
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@code{edge_iterator} data structure and several methods are available
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to operate on them:
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@ftable @code
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@item ei_start
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This function initializes an @code{edge_iterator} that points to the
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first edge in a vector of edges.
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@item ei_last
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This function initializes an @code{edge_iterator} that points to the
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last edge in a vector of edges.
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@item ei_end_p
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This predicate is @code{true} if an @code{edge_iterator} represents
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the last edge in an edge vector.
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@item ei_one_before_end_p
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This predicate is @code{true} if an @code{edge_iterator} represents
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the second last edge in an edge vector.
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@item ei_next
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This function takes a pointer to an @code{edge_iterator} and makes it
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point to the next edge in the sequence.
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@item ei_prev
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This function takes a pointer to an @code{edge_iterator} and makes it
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point to the previous edge in the sequence.
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@item ei_edge
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This function returns the @code{edge} currently pointed to by an
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@code{edge_iterator}.
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@item ei_safe_safe
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This function returns the @code{edge} currently pointed to by an
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@code{edge_iterator}, but returns @code{NULL} if the iterator is
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pointing at the end of the sequence. This function has been provided
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for existing code makes the assumption that a @code{NULL} edge
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indicates the end of the sequence.
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@end ftable
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The convenience macro @code{FOR_EACH_EDGE} can be used to visit all of
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the edges in a sequence of predecessor or successor edges. It must
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not be used when an element might be removed during the traversal,
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otherwise elements will be missed. Here is an example of how to use
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the macro:
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@smallexample
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edge e;
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edge_iterator ei;
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FOR_EACH_EDGE (e, ei, bb->succs)
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@{
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if (e->flags & EDGE_FALLTHRU)
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break;
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@}
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@end smallexample
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@findex fall-thru
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There are various reasons why control flow may transfer from one block
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to another. One possibility is that some instruction, for example a
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@code{CODE_LABEL}, in a linearized instruction stream just always
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starts a new basic block. In this case a @dfn{fall-thru} edge links
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the basic block to the first following basic block. But there are
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several other reasons why edges may be created. The @code{flags}
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field of the @code{edge} data type is used to store information
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about the type of edge we are dealing with. Each edge is of one of
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the following types:
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@table @emph
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@item jump
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No type flags are set for edges corresponding to jump instructions.
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These edges are used for unconditional or conditional jumps and in
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RTL also for table jumps. They are the easiest to manipulate as they
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may be freely redirected when the flow graph is not in SSA form.
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@item fall-thru
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@findex EDGE_FALLTHRU, force_nonfallthru
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Fall-thru edges are present in case where the basic block may continue
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execution to the following one without branching. These edges have
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the @code{EDGE_FALLTHRU} flag set. Unlike other types of edges, these
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edges must come into the basic block immediately following in the
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instruction stream. The function @code{force_nonfallthru} is
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available to insert an unconditional jump in the case that redirection
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is needed. Note that this may require creation of a new basic block.
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@item exception handling
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@cindex exception handling
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@findex EDGE_ABNORMAL, EDGE_EH
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Exception handling edges represent possible control transfers from a
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trapping instruction to an exception handler. The definition of
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``trapping'' varies. In C++, only function calls can throw, but for
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Java and Ada, exceptions like division by zero or segmentation fault are
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defined and thus each instruction possibly throwing this kind of
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exception needs to be handled as control flow instruction. Exception
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edges have the @code{EDGE_ABNORMAL} and @code{EDGE_EH} flags set.
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@findex purge_dead_edges
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When updating the instruction stream it is easy to change possibly
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trapping instruction to non-trapping, by simply removing the exception
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edge. The opposite conversion is difficult, but should not happen
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anyway. The edges can be eliminated via @code{purge_dead_edges} call.
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@findex REG_EH_REGION, EDGE_ABNORMAL_CALL
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In the RTL representation, the destination of an exception edge is
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specified by @code{REG_EH_REGION} note attached to the insn.
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In case of a trapping call the @code{EDGE_ABNORMAL_CALL} flag is set
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too. In the @code{GIMPLE} representation, this extra flag is not set.
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@findex may_trap_p, tree_could_trap_p
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In the RTL representation, the predicate @code{may_trap_p} may be used
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to check whether instruction still may trap or not. For the tree
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representation, the @code{tree_could_trap_p} predicate is available,
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but this predicate only checks for possible memory traps, as in
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dereferencing an invalid pointer location.
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@item sibling calls
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@cindex sibling call
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@findex EDGE_ABNORMAL, EDGE_SIBCALL
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Sibling calls or tail calls terminate the function in a non-standard
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way and thus an edge to the exit must be present.
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@code{EDGE_SIBCALL} and @code{EDGE_ABNORMAL} are set in such case.
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These edges only exist in the RTL representation.
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@item computed jumps
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@cindex computed jump
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@findex EDGE_ABNORMAL
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Computed jumps contain edges to all labels in the function referenced
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from the code. All those edges have @code{EDGE_ABNORMAL} flag set.
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The edges used to represent computed jumps often cause compile time
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performance problems, since functions consisting of many taken labels
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and many computed jumps may have @emph{very} dense flow graphs, so
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these edges need to be handled with special care. During the earlier
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stages of the compilation process, GCC tries to avoid such dense flow
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graphs by factoring computed jumps. For example, given the following
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series of jumps,
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@smallexample
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goto *x;
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[ @dots{} ]
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goto *x;
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[ @dots{} ]
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goto *x;
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[ @dots{} ]
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@end smallexample
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@noindent
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factoring the computed jumps results in the following code sequence
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which has a much simpler flow graph:
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@smallexample
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goto y;
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[ @dots{} ]
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goto y;
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[ @dots{} ]
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goto y;
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[ @dots{} ]
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y:
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goto *x;
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@end smallexample
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@findex pass_duplicate_computed_gotos
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However, the classic problem with this transformation is that it has a
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runtime cost in there resulting code: An extra jump. Therefore, the
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computed jumps are un-factored in the later passes of the compiler
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(in the pass called @code{pass_duplicate_computed_gotos}).
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Be aware of that when you work on passes in that area. There have
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been numerous examples already where the compile time for code with
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unfactored computed jumps caused some serious headaches.
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@item nonlocal goto handlers
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@cindex nonlocal goto handler
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@findex EDGE_ABNORMAL, EDGE_ABNORMAL_CALL
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GCC allows nested functions to return into caller using a @code{goto}
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to a label passed to as an argument to the callee. The labels passed
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to nested functions contain special code to cleanup after function
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call. Such sections of code are referred to as ``nonlocal goto
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receivers''. If a function contains such nonlocal goto receivers, an
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edge from the call to the label is created with the
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@code{EDGE_ABNORMAL} and @code{EDGE_ABNORMAL_CALL} flags set.
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@item function entry points
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@cindex function entry point, alternate function entry point
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@findex LABEL_ALTERNATE_NAME
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By definition, execution of function starts at basic block 0, so there
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is always an edge from the @code{ENTRY_BLOCK_PTR} to basic block 0.
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There is no @code{GIMPLE} representation for alternate entry points at
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this moment. In RTL, alternate entry points are specified by
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@code{CODE_LABEL} with @code{LABEL_ALTERNATE_NAME} defined. This
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feature is currently used for multiple entry point prologues and is
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limited to post-reload passes only. This can be used by back-ends to
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emit alternate prologues for functions called from different contexts.
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In future full support for multiple entry functions defined by Fortran
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90 needs to be implemented.
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@item function exits
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In the pre-reload representation a function terminates after the last
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instruction in the insn chain and no explicit return instructions are
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used. This corresponds to the fall-thru edge into exit block. After
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reload, optimal RTL epilogues are used that use explicit (conditional)
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return instructions that are represented by edges with no flags set.
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@end table
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@node Profile information
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@section Profile information
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@cindex profile representation
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In many cases a compiler must make a choice whether to trade speed in
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one part of code for speed in another, or to trade code size for code
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speed. In such cases it is useful to know information about how often
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some given block will be executed. That is the purpose for
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maintaining profile within the flow graph.
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GCC can handle profile information obtained through @dfn{profile
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feedback}, but it can also estimate branch probabilities based on
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statics and heuristics.
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@cindex profile feedback
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The feedback based profile is produced by compiling the program with
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instrumentation, executing it on a train run and reading the numbers
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of executions of basic blocks and edges back to the compiler while
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re-compiling the program to produce the final executable. This method
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provides very accurate information about where a program spends most
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of its time on the train run. Whether it matches the average run of
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course depends on the choice of train data set, but several studies
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have shown that the behavior of a program usually changes just
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marginally over different data sets.
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@cindex Static profile estimation
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@cindex branch prediction
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@findex predict.def
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When profile feedback is not available, the compiler may be asked to
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attempt to predict the behavior of each branch in the program using a
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set of heuristics (see @file{predict.def} for details) and compute
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estimated frequencies of each basic block by propagating the
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probabilities over the graph.
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@findex frequency, count, BB_FREQ_BASE
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Each @code{basic_block} contains two integer fields to represent
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profile information: @code{frequency} and @code{count}. The
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@code{frequency} is an estimation how often is basic block executed
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within a function. It is represented as an integer scaled in the
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range from 0 to @code{BB_FREQ_BASE}. The most frequently executed
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basic block in function is initially set to @code{BB_FREQ_BASE} and
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the rest of frequencies are scaled accordingly. During optimization,
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the frequency of the most frequent basic block can both decrease (for
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instance by loop unrolling) or grow (for instance by cross-jumping
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optimization), so scaling sometimes has to be performed multiple
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times.
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@findex gcov_type
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The @code{count} contains hard-counted numbers of execution measured
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during training runs and is nonzero only when profile feedback is
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available. This value is represented as the host's widest integer
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(typically a 64 bit integer) of the special type @code{gcov_type}.
|
|
|
|
Most optimization passes can use only the frequency information of a
|
|
basic block, but a few passes may want to know hard execution counts.
|
|
The frequencies should always match the counts after scaling, however
|
|
during updating of the profile information numerical error may
|
|
accumulate into quite large errors.
|
|
|
|
@findex REG_BR_PROB_BASE, EDGE_FREQUENCY
|
|
Each edge also contains a branch probability field: an integer in the
|
|
range from 0 to @code{REG_BR_PROB_BASE}. It represents probability of
|
|
passing control from the end of the @code{src} basic block to the
|
|
@code{dest} basic block, i.e.@: the probability that control will flow
|
|
along this edge. The @code{EDGE_FREQUENCY} macro is available to
|
|
compute how frequently a given edge is taken. There is a @code{count}
|
|
field for each edge as well, representing same information as for a
|
|
basic block.
|
|
|
|
The basic block frequencies are not represented in the instruction
|
|
stream, but in the RTL representation the edge frequencies are
|
|
represented for conditional jumps (via the @code{REG_BR_PROB}
|
|
macro) since they are used when instructions are output to the
|
|
assembly file and the flow graph is no longer maintained.
|
|
|
|
@cindex reverse probability
|
|
The probability that control flow arrives via a given edge to its
|
|
destination basic block is called @dfn{reverse probability} and is not
|
|
directly represented, but it may be easily computed from frequencies
|
|
of basic blocks.
|
|
|
|
@findex redirect_edge_and_branch
|
|
Updating profile information is a delicate task that can unfortunately
|
|
not be easily integrated with the CFG manipulation API@. Many of the
|
|
functions and hooks to modify the CFG, such as
|
|
@code{redirect_edge_and_branch}, do not have enough information to
|
|
easily update the profile, so updating it is in the majority of cases
|
|
left up to the caller. It is difficult to uncover bugs in the profile
|
|
updating code, because they manifest themselves only by producing
|
|
worse code, and checking profile consistency is not possible because
|
|
of numeric error accumulation. Hence special attention needs to be
|
|
given to this issue in each pass that modifies the CFG@.
|
|
|
|
@findex REG_BR_PROB_BASE, BB_FREQ_BASE, count
|
|
It is important to point out that @code{REG_BR_PROB_BASE} and
|
|
@code{BB_FREQ_BASE} are both set low enough to be possible to compute
|
|
second power of any frequency or probability in the flow graph, it is
|
|
not possible to even square the @code{count} field, as modern CPUs are
|
|
fast enough to execute $2^32$ operations quickly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
@node Maintaining the CFG
|
|
@section Maintaining the CFG
|
|
@findex cfghooks.h
|
|
|
|
An important task of each compiler pass is to keep both the control
|
|
flow graph and all profile information up-to-date. Reconstruction of
|
|
the control flow graph after each pass is not an option, since it may be
|
|
very expensive and lost profile information cannot be reconstructed at
|
|
all.
|
|
|
|
GCC has two major intermediate representations, and both use the
|
|
@code{basic_block} and @code{edge} data types to represent control
|
|
flow. Both representations share as much of the CFG maintenance code
|
|
as possible. For each representation, a set of @dfn{hooks} is defined
|
|
so that each representation can provide its own implementation of CFG
|
|
manipulation routines when necessary. These hooks are defined in
|
|
@file{cfghooks.h}. There are hooks for almost all common CFG
|
|
manipulations, including block splitting and merging, edge redirection
|
|
and creating and deleting basic blocks. These hooks should provide
|
|
everything you need to maintain and manipulate the CFG in both the RTL
|
|
and @code{GIMPLE} representation.
|
|
|
|
At the moment, the basic block boundaries are maintained transparently
|
|
when modifying instructions, so there rarely is a need to move them
|
|
manually (such as in case someone wants to output instruction outside
|
|
basic block explicitly).
|
|
|
|
@findex BLOCK_FOR_INSN, gimple_bb
|
|
In the RTL representation, each instruction has a
|
|
@code{BLOCK_FOR_INSN} value that represents pointer to the basic block
|
|
that contains the instruction. In the @code{GIMPLE} representation, the
|
|
function @code{gimple_bb} returns a pointer to the basic block
|
|
containing the queried statement.
|
|
|
|
@cindex GIMPLE statement iterators
|
|
When changes need to be applied to a function in its @code{GIMPLE}
|
|
representation, @dfn{GIMPLE statement iterators} should be used. These
|
|
iterators provide an integrated abstraction of the flow graph and the
|
|
instruction stream. Block statement iterators are constructed using
|
|
the @code{gimple_stmt_iterator} data structure and several modifier are
|
|
available, including the following:
|
|
|
|
@ftable @code
|
|
@item gsi_start
|
|
This function initializes a @code{gimple_stmt_iterator} that points to
|
|
the first non-empty statement in a basic block.
|
|
|
|
@item gsi_last
|
|
This function initializes a @code{gimple_stmt_iterator} that points to
|
|
the last statement in a basic block.
|
|
|
|
@item gsi_end_p
|
|
This predicate is @code{true} if a @code{gimple_stmt_iterator}
|
|
represents the end of a basic block.
|
|
|
|
@item gsi_next
|
|
This function takes a @code{gimple_stmt_iterator} and makes it point to
|
|
its successor.
|
|
|
|
@item gsi_prev
|
|
This function takes a @code{gimple_stmt_iterator} and makes it point to
|
|
its predecessor.
|
|
|
|
@item gsi_insert_after
|
|
This function inserts a statement after the @code{gimple_stmt_iterator}
|
|
passed in. The final parameter determines whether the statement
|
|
iterator is updated to point to the newly inserted statement, or left
|
|
pointing to the original statement.
|
|
|
|
@item gsi_insert_before
|
|
This function inserts a statement before the @code{gimple_stmt_iterator}
|
|
passed in. The final parameter determines whether the statement
|
|
iterator is updated to point to the newly inserted statement, or left
|
|
pointing to the original statement.
|
|
|
|
@item gsi_remove
|
|
This function removes the @code{gimple_stmt_iterator} passed in and
|
|
rechains the remaining statements in a basic block, if any.
|
|
@end ftable
|
|
|
|
@findex BB_HEAD, BB_END
|
|
In the RTL representation, the macros @code{BB_HEAD} and @code{BB_END}
|
|
may be used to get the head and end @code{rtx} of a basic block. No
|
|
abstract iterators are defined for traversing the insn chain, but you
|
|
can just use @code{NEXT_INSN} and @code{PREV_INSN} instead. @xref{Insns}.
|
|
|
|
@findex purge_dead_edges
|
|
Usually a code manipulating pass simplifies the instruction stream and
|
|
the flow of control, possibly eliminating some edges. This may for
|
|
example happen when a conditional jump is replaced with an
|
|
unconditional jump, but also when simplifying possibly trapping
|
|
instruction to non-trapping while compiling Java. Updating of edges
|
|
is not transparent and each optimization pass is required to do so
|
|
manually. However only few cases occur in practice. The pass may
|
|
call @code{purge_dead_edges} on a given basic block to remove
|
|
superfluous edges, if any.
|
|
|
|
@findex redirect_edge_and_branch, redirect_jump
|
|
Another common scenario is redirection of branch instructions, but
|
|
this is best modeled as redirection of edges in the control flow graph
|
|
and thus use of @code{redirect_edge_and_branch} is preferred over more
|
|
low level functions, such as @code{redirect_jump} that operate on RTL
|
|
chain only. The CFG hooks defined in @file{cfghooks.h} should provide
|
|
the complete API required for manipulating and maintaining the CFG@.
|
|
|
|
@findex split_block
|
|
It is also possible that a pass has to insert control flow instruction
|
|
into the middle of a basic block, thus creating an entry point in the
|
|
middle of the basic block, which is impossible by definition: The
|
|
block must be split to make sure it only has one entry point, i.e.@: the
|
|
head of the basic block. The CFG hook @code{split_block} may be used
|
|
when an instruction in the middle of a basic block has to become the
|
|
target of a jump or branch instruction.
|
|
|
|
@findex insert_insn_on_edge
|
|
@findex commit_edge_insertions
|
|
@findex gsi_insert_on_edge
|
|
@findex gsi_commit_edge_inserts
|
|
@cindex edge splitting
|
|
For a global optimizer, a common operation is to split edges in the
|
|
flow graph and insert instructions on them. In the RTL
|
|
representation, this can be easily done using the
|
|
@code{insert_insn_on_edge} function that emits an instruction
|
|
``on the edge'', caching it for a later @code{commit_edge_insertions}
|
|
call that will take care of moving the inserted instructions off the
|
|
edge into the instruction stream contained in a basic block. This
|
|
includes the creation of new basic blocks where needed. In the
|
|
@code{GIMPLE} representation, the equivalent functions are
|
|
@code{gsi_insert_on_edge} which inserts a block statement
|
|
iterator on an edge, and @code{gsi_commit_edge_inserts} which flushes
|
|
the instruction to actual instruction stream.
|
|
|
|
@findex verify_flow_info
|
|
@cindex CFG verification
|
|
While debugging the optimization pass, the @code{verify_flow_info}
|
|
function may be useful to find bugs in the control flow graph updating
|
|
code.
|
|
|
|
|
|
@node Liveness information
|
|
@section Liveness information
|
|
@cindex Liveness representation
|
|
Liveness information is useful to determine whether some register is
|
|
``live'' at given point of program, i.e.@: that it contains a value that
|
|
may be used at a later point in the program. This information is
|
|
used, for instance, during register allocation, as the pseudo
|
|
registers only need to be assigned to a unique hard register or to a
|
|
stack slot if they are live. The hard registers and stack slots may
|
|
be freely reused for other values when a register is dead.
|
|
|
|
Liveness information is available in the back end starting with
|
|
@code{pass_df_initialize} and ending with @code{pass_df_finish}. Three
|
|
flavors of live analysis are available: With @code{LR}, it is possible
|
|
to determine at any point @code{P} in the function if the register may be
|
|
used on some path from @code{P} to the end of the function. With
|
|
@code{UR}, it is possible to determine if there is a path from the
|
|
beginning of the function to @code{P} that defines the variable.
|
|
@code{LIVE} is the intersection of the @code{LR} and @code{UR} and a
|
|
variable is live at @code{P} if there is both an assignment that reaches
|
|
it from the beginning of the function and a use that can be reached on
|
|
some path from @code{P} to the end of the function.
|
|
|
|
In general @code{LIVE} is the most useful of the three. The macros
|
|
@code{DF_[LR,UR,LIVE]_[IN,OUT]} can be used to access this information.
|
|
The macros take a basic block number and return a bitmap that is indexed
|
|
by the register number. This information is only guaranteed to be up to
|
|
date after calls are made to @code{df_analyze}. See the file
|
|
@code{df-core.c} for details on using the dataflow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
@findex REG_DEAD, REG_UNUSED
|
|
The liveness information is stored partly in the RTL instruction stream
|
|
and partly in the flow graph. Local information is stored in the
|
|
instruction stream: Each instruction may contain @code{REG_DEAD} notes
|
|
representing that the value of a given register is no longer needed, or
|
|
@code{REG_UNUSED} notes representing that the value computed by the
|
|
instruction is never used. The second is useful for instructions
|
|
computing multiple values at once.
|
|
|