Optimize Options - Using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) (original) (raw)
These options control various sorts of optimizations.
Without any optimization option, the compiler's goal is to reduce the cost of compilation and to make debugging produce the expected results. Statements are independent: if you stop the program with a breakpoint between statements, you can then assign a new value to any variable or change the program counter to any other statement in the function and get exactly the results you would expect from the source code.
Turning on optimization flags makes the compiler attempt to improve the performance and/or code size at the expense of compilation time and possibly the ability to debug the program.
The compiler performs optimization based on the knowledge it has of the program. Compiling multiple files at once to a single output file mode allows the compiler to use information gained from all of the files when compiling each of them.
Not all optimizations are controlled directly by a flag. Only optimizations that have a flag are listed in this section.
Most optimizations are only enabled if an -O level is set on the command line. Otherwise they are disabled, even if individual optimization flags are specified.
Depending on the target and how GCC was configured, a slightly different set of optimizations may be enabled at each -O level than those listed here. You can invoke GCC with `-Q --help=optimizers' to find out the exact set of optimizations that are enabled at each level. See Overall Options, for examples.
Options of the form -fflag specify machine-independent flags. Most flags have both positive and negative forms; the negative form of -ffoo would be -fno-foo. In the table below, only one of the forms is listed—the one you typically will use. You can figure out the other form by either removing `no-' or adding it.
The following options control specific optimizations. They are either activated by -O options or are related to ones that are. You can use the following flags in the rare cases when “fine-tuning” of optimizations to be performed is desired.
-fno-default-inline
Do not make member functions inline by default merely because they are defined inside the class scope (C++ only). Otherwise, when you specify-O, member functions defined inside class scope are compiled inline by default; i.e., you don't need to add `inline' in front of the member function name.
-fno-defer-pop
Always pop the arguments to each function call as soon as that function returns. For machines which must pop arguments after a function call, the compiler normally lets arguments accumulate on the stack for several function calls and pops them all at once.
Disabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fforward-propagate
Perform a forward propagation pass on RTL. The pass tries to combine two instructions and checks if the result can be simplified. If loop unrolling is active, two passes are performed and the second is scheduled after loop unrolling.
This option is enabled by default at optimization levels -O,-O2, -O3, -Os.
-ffp-contract=style
-ffp-contract=off disables floating-point expression contraction. -ffp-contract=fast enables floating-point expression contraction such as forming of fused multiply-add operations if the target has native support for them. -ffp-contract=on enables floating-point expression contraction if allowed by the language standard. This is currently not implemented and treated equal to -ffp-contract=off.
The default is -ffp-contract=fast.
-fomit-frame-pointer
Don't keep the frame pointer in a register for functions that don't need one. This avoids the instructions to save, set up and restore frame pointers; it also makes an extra register available in many functions. It also makes debugging impossible on some machines.
On some machines, such as the VAX, this flag has no effect, because the standard calling sequence automatically handles the frame pointer and nothing is saved by pretending it doesn't exist. The machine-description macro FRAME_POINTER_REQUIRED controls whether a target machine supports this flag. See Register Usage.
Starting with GCC version 4.6, the default setting (when not optimizing for size) for 32-bit Linux x86 and 32-bit Darwin x86 targets has been changed to-fomit-frame-pointer. The default can be reverted to-fno-omit-frame-pointer by configuring GCC with the--enable-frame-pointer configure option.
Enabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3, -Os.
-foptimize-sibling-calls
Optimize sibling and tail recursive calls.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fno-inline
Don't pay attention to the inline keyword. Normally this option is used to keep the compiler from expanding any functions inline. Note that if you are not optimizing, no functions can be expanded inline.
-finline-small-functions
Integrate functions into their callers when their body is smaller than expected function call code (so overall size of program gets smaller). The compiler heuristically decides which functions are simple enough to be worth integrating in this way.
Enabled at level -O2.
-findirect-inlining
Inline also indirect calls that are discovered to be known at compile time thanks to previous inlining. This option has any effect only when inlining itself is turned on by the -finline-functionsor -finline-small-functions options.
Enabled at level -O2.
-finline-functions
Integrate all simple functions into their callers. The compiler heuristically decides which functions are simple enough to be worth integrating in this way.
If all calls to a given function are integrated, and the function is declared static, then the function is normally not output as assembler code in its own right.
Enabled at level -O3.
-finline-functions-called-once
Consider all static functions called once for inlining into their caller even if they are not marked inline. If a call to a given function is integrated, then the function is not output as assembler code in its own right.
Enabled at levels -O1, -O2, -O3 and -Os.
-fearly-inlining
Inline functions marked by always_inline and functions whose body seems smaller than the function call overhead early before doing-fprofile-generate instrumentation and real inlining pass. Doing so makes profiling significantly cheaper and usually inlining faster on programs having large chains of nested wrapper functions.
Enabled by default.
-fipa-sra
Perform interprocedural scalar replacement of aggregates, removal of unused parameters and replacement of parameters passed by reference by parameters passed by value.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3 and -Os.
-finline-limit=n
By default, GCC limits the size of functions that can be inlined. This flag allows coarse control of this limit. n is the size of functions that can be inlined in number of pseudo instructions.
Inlining is actually controlled by a number of parameters, which may be specified individually by using --param name=value. The -finline-limit=n option sets some of these parameters as follows:
max-inline-insns-single
is set to n/2.
max-inline-insns-auto
is set to n/2.
See below for a documentation of the individual parameters controlling inlining and for the defaults of these parameters.
Note: there may be no value to -finline-limit that results in default behavior.
Note: pseudo instruction represents, in this particular context, an abstract measurement of function's size. In no way does it represent a count of assembly instructions and as such its exact meaning might change from one release to an another.
-fno-keep-inline-dllexport
This is a more fine-grained version of -fkeep-inline-functions, which applies only to functions that are declared using the dllexportattribute or declspec (See Declaring Attributes of Functions.)
-fkeep-inline-functions
In C, emit static functions that are declared inlineinto the object file, even if the function has been inlined into all of its callers. This switch does not affect functions using theextern inline extension in GNU C90. In C++, emit any and all inline functions into the object file.
-fkeep-static-consts
Emit variables declared static const when optimization isn't turned on, even if the variables aren't referenced.
GCC enables this option by default. If you want to force the compiler to check if the variable was referenced, regardless of whether or not optimization is turned on, use the -fno-keep-static-consts option.
-fmerge-constants
Attempt to merge identical constants (string constants and floating point constants) across compilation units.
This option is the default for optimized compilation if the assembler and linker support it. Use -fno-merge-constants to inhibit this behavior.
Enabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fmerge-all-constants
Attempt to merge identical constants and identical variables.
This option implies -fmerge-constants. In addition to-fmerge-constants this considers e.g. even constant initialized arrays or initialized constant variables with integral or floating point types. Languages like C or C++ require each variable, including multiple instances of the same variable in recursive calls, to have distinct locations, so using this option will result in non-conforming behavior.
-fmodulo-sched
Perform swing modulo scheduling immediately before the first scheduling pass. This pass looks at innermost loops and reorders their instructions by overlapping different iterations.
-fmodulo-sched-allow-regmoves
Perform more aggressive SMS based modulo scheduling with register moves allowed. By setting this flag certain anti-dependences edges will be deleted which will trigger the generation of reg-moves based on the life-range analysis. This option is effective only with-fmodulo-sched enabled.
-fno-branch-count-reg
Do not use “decrement and branch” instructions on a count register, but instead generate a sequence of instructions that decrement a register, compare it against zero, then branch based upon the result. This option is only meaningful on architectures that support such instructions, which include x86, PowerPC, IA-64 and S/390.
The default is -fbranch-count-reg.
-fno-function-cse
Do not put function addresses in registers; make each instruction that calls a constant function contain the function's address explicitly.
This option results in less efficient code, but some strange hacks that alter the assembler output may be confused by the optimizations performed when this option is not used.
The default is -ffunction-cse
-fno-zero-initialized-in-bss
If the target supports a BSS section, GCC by default puts variables that are initialized to zero into BSS. This can save space in the resulting code.
This option turns off this behavior because some programs explicitly rely on variables going to the data section. E.g., so that the resulting executable can find the beginning of that section and/or make assumptions based on that.
The default is -fzero-initialized-in-bss.
-fmudflap -fmudflapth -fmudflapir
For front-ends that support it (C and C++), instrument all risky pointer/array dereferencing operations, some standard library string/heap functions, and some other associated constructs with range/validity tests. Modules so instrumented should be immune to buffer overflows, invalid heap use, and some other classes of C/C++ programming errors. The instrumentation relies on a separate runtime library (libmudflap), which will be linked into a program if-fmudflap is given at link time. Run-time behavior of the instrumented program is controlled by the MUDFLAP_OPTIONSenvironment variable. See env MUDFLAP_OPTIONS=-help a.outfor its options.
Use -fmudflapth instead of -fmudflap to compile and to link if your program is multi-threaded. Use -fmudflapir, in addition to -fmudflap or -fmudflapth, if instrumentation should ignore pointer reads. This produces less instrumentation (and therefore faster execution) and still provides some protection against outright memory corrupting writes, but allows erroneously read data to propagate within a program.
-fthread-jumps
Perform optimizations where we check to see if a jump branches to a location where another comparison subsumed by the first is found. If so, the first branch is redirected to either the destination of the second branch or a point immediately following it, depending on whether the condition is known to be true or false.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fsplit-wide-types
When using a type that occupies multiple registers, such as long long on a 32-bit system, split the registers apart and allocate them independently. This normally generates better code for those types, but may make debugging more difficult.
Enabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3,-Os.
-fcse-follow-jumps
In common subexpression elimination (CSE), scan through jump instructions when the target of the jump is not reached by any other path. For example, when CSE encounters an if statement with anelse clause, CSE will follow the jump when the condition tested is false.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fcse-skip-blocks
This is similar to -fcse-follow-jumps, but causes CSE to follow jumps which conditionally skip over blocks. When CSE encounters a simple if statement with no else clause,-fcse-skip-blocks causes CSE to follow the jump around the body of the if.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-frerun-cse-after-loop
Re-run common subexpression elimination after loop optimizations has been performed.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fgcse
Perform a global common subexpression elimination pass. This pass also performs global constant and copy propagation.
Note: When compiling a program using computed gotos, a GCC extension, you may get better runtime performance if you disable the global common subexpression elimination pass by adding-fno-gcse to the command line.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fgcse-lm
When -fgcse-lm is enabled, global common subexpression elimination will attempt to move loads which are only killed by stores into themselves. This allows a loop containing a load/store sequence to be changed to a load outside the loop, and a copy/store within the loop.
Enabled by default when gcse is enabled.
-fgcse-sm
When -fgcse-sm is enabled, a store motion pass is run after global common subexpression elimination. This pass will attempt to move stores out of loops. When used in conjunction with -fgcse-lm, loops containing a load/store sequence can be changed to a load before the loop and a store after the loop.
Not enabled at any optimization level.
-fgcse-las
When -fgcse-las is enabled, the global common subexpression elimination pass eliminates redundant loads that come after stores to the same memory location (both partial and full redundancies).
Not enabled at any optimization level.
-fgcse-after-reload
When -fgcse-after-reload is enabled, a redundant load elimination pass is performed after reload. The purpose of this pass is to cleanup redundant spilling.
-funsafe-loop-optimizations
If given, the loop optimizer will assume that loop indices do not overflow, and that the loops with nontrivial exit condition are not infinite. This enables a wider range of loop optimizations even if the loop optimizer itself cannot prove that these assumptions are valid. Using -Wunsafe-loop-optimizations, the compiler will warn you if it finds this kind of loop.
-fcrossjumping
Perform cross-jumping transformation. This transformation unifies equivalent code and save code size. The resulting code may or may not perform better than without cross-jumping.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fauto-inc-dec
Combine increments or decrements of addresses with memory accesses. This pass is always skipped on architectures that do not have instructions to support this. Enabled by default at -O and higher on architectures that support this.
-fdce
Perform dead code elimination (DCE) on RTL. Enabled by default at -O and higher.
-fdse
Perform dead store elimination (DSE) on RTL. Enabled by default at -O and higher.
-fif-conversion
Attempt to transform conditional jumps into branch-less equivalents. This include use of conditional moves, min, max, set flags and abs instructions, and some tricks doable by standard arithmetics. The use of conditional execution on chips where it is available is controlled by if-conversion2.
Enabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fif-conversion2
Use conditional execution (where available) to transform conditional jumps into branch-less equivalents.
Enabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fdelete-null-pointer-checks
Assume that programs cannot safely dereference null pointers, and that no code or data element resides there. This enables simple constant folding optimizations at all optimization levels. In addition, other optimization passes in GCC use this flag to control global dataflow analyses that eliminate useless checks for null pointers; these assume that if a pointer is checked after it has already been dereferenced, it cannot be null.
Note however that in some environments this assumption is not true. Use -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks to disable this optimization for programs which depend on that behavior.
Some targets, especially embedded ones, disable this option at all levels. Otherwise it is enabled at all levels: -O0, -O1,-O2, -O3, -Os. Passes that use the information are enabled independently at different optimization levels.
-fdevirtualize
Attempt to convert calls to virtual functions to direct calls. This is done both within a procedure and interprocedurally as part of indirect inlining (-findirect-inlining) and interprocedural constant propagation (-fipa-cp). Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fexpensive-optimizations
Perform a number of minor optimizations that are relatively expensive.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-foptimize-register-move
-fregmove
Attempt to reassign register numbers in move instructions and as operands of other simple instructions in order to maximize the amount of register tying. This is especially helpful on machines with two-operand instructions.
Note -fregmove and -foptimize-register-move are the same optimization.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fira-algorithm=algorithm
Use specified coloring algorithm for the integrated register allocator. The algorithm argument should be priority orCB. The first algorithm specifies Chow's priority coloring, the second one specifies Chaitin-Briggs coloring. The second algorithm can be unimplemented for some architectures. If it is implemented, it is the default because Chaitin-Briggs coloring as a rule generates a better code.
-fira-region=region
Use specified regions for the integrated register allocator. Theregion argument should be one of all, mixed, orone. The first value means using all loops as register allocation regions, the second value which is the default means using all loops except for loops with small register pressure as the regions, and third one means using all function as a single region. The first value can give best result for machines with small size and irregular register set, the third one results in faster and generates decent code and the smallest size code, and the default value usually give the best results in most cases and for most architectures.
-fira-loop-pressure
Use IRA to evaluate register pressure in loops for decision to move loop invariants. Usage of this option usually results in generation of faster and smaller code on machines with big register files (>= 32 registers) but it can slow compiler down.
This option is enabled at level -O3 for some targets.
-fno-ira-share-save-slots
Switch off sharing stack slots used for saving call used hard registers living through a call. Each hard register will get a separate stack slot and as a result function stack frame will be bigger.
-fno-ira-share-spill-slots
Switch off sharing stack slots allocated for pseudo-registers. Each pseudo-register which did not get a hard register will get a separate stack slot and as a result function stack frame will be bigger.
-fira-verbose=n
Set up how verbose dump file for the integrated register allocator will be. Default value is 5. If the value is greater or equal to 10, the dump file will be stderr as if the value were n minus 10.
-fdelayed-branch
If supported for the target machine, attempt to reorder instructions to exploit instruction slots available after delayed branch instructions.
Enabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fschedule-insns
If supported for the target machine, attempt to reorder instructions to eliminate execution stalls due to required data being unavailable. This helps machines that have slow floating point or memory load instructions by allowing other instructions to be issued until the result of the load or floating point instruction is required.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3.
-fschedule-insns2
Similar to -fschedule-insns, but requests an additional pass of instruction scheduling after register allocation has been done. This is especially useful on machines with a relatively small number of registers and where memory load instructions take more than one cycle.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fno-sched-interblock
Don't schedule instructions across basic blocks. This is normally enabled by default when scheduling before register allocation, i.e. with -fschedule-insns or at -O2 or higher.
-fno-sched-spec
Don't allow speculative motion of non-load instructions. This is normally enabled by default when scheduling before register allocation, i.e. with -fschedule-insns or at -O2 or higher.
-fsched-pressure
Enable register pressure sensitive insn scheduling before the register allocation. This only makes sense when scheduling before register allocation is enabled, i.e. with -fschedule-insns or at-O2 or higher. Usage of this option can improve the generated code and decrease its size by preventing register pressure increase above the number of available hard registers and as a consequence register spills in the register allocation.
-fsched-spec-load
Allow speculative motion of some load instructions. This only makes sense when scheduling before register allocation, i.e. with-fschedule-insns or at -O2 or higher.
-fsched-spec-load-dangerous
Allow speculative motion of more load instructions. This only makes sense when scheduling before register allocation, i.e. with-fschedule-insns or at -O2 or higher.
-fsched-stalled-insns
-fsched-stalled-insns=n
Define how many insns (if any) can be moved prematurely from the queue of stalled insns into the ready list, during the second scheduling pass. -fno-sched-stalled-insns means that no insns will be moved prematurely, -fsched-stalled-insns=0 means there is no limit on how many queued insns can be moved prematurely. -fsched-stalled-insns without a value is equivalent to-fsched-stalled-insns=1.
-fsched-stalled-insns-dep
-fsched-stalled-insns-dep=n
Define how many insn groups (cycles) will be examined for a dependency on a stalled insn that is candidate for premature removal from the queue of stalled insns. This has an effect only during the second scheduling pass, and only if -fsched-stalled-insns is used. -fno-sched-stalled-insns-dep is equivalent to-fsched-stalled-insns-dep=0. -fsched-stalled-insns-dep without a value is equivalent to-fsched-stalled-insns-dep=1.
-fsched2-use-superblocks
When scheduling after register allocation, do use superblock scheduling algorithm. Superblock scheduling allows motion across basic block boundaries resulting on faster schedules. This option is experimental, as not all machine descriptions used by GCC model the CPU closely enough to avoid unreliable results from the algorithm.
This only makes sense when scheduling after register allocation, i.e. with-fschedule-insns2 or at -O2 or higher.
-fsched-group-heuristic
Enable the group heuristic in the scheduler. This heuristic favors the instruction that belongs to a schedule group. This is enabled by default when scheduling is enabled, i.e. with -fschedule-insnsor -fschedule-insns2 or at -O2 or higher.
-fsched-critical-path-heuristic
Enable the critical-path heuristic in the scheduler. This heuristic favors instructions on the critical path. This is enabled by default when scheduling is enabled, i.e. with -fschedule-insnsor -fschedule-insns2 or at -O2 or higher.
-fsched-spec-insn-heuristic
Enable the speculative instruction heuristic in the scheduler. This heuristic favors speculative instructions with greater dependency weakness. This is enabled by default when scheduling is enabled, i.e. with -fschedule-insns or -fschedule-insns2or at -O2 or higher.
-fsched-rank-heuristic
Enable the rank heuristic in the scheduler. This heuristic favors the instruction belonging to a basic block with greater size or frequency. This is enabled by default when scheduling is enabled, i.e. with -fschedule-insns or -fschedule-insns2 or at -O2 or higher.
-fsched-last-insn-heuristic
Enable the last-instruction heuristic in the scheduler. This heuristic favors the instruction that is less dependent on the last instruction scheduled. This is enabled by default when scheduling is enabled, i.e. with -fschedule-insns or -fschedule-insns2 or at -O2 or higher.
-fsched-dep-count-heuristic
Enable the dependent-count heuristic in the scheduler. This heuristic favors the instruction that has more instructions depending on it. This is enabled by default when scheduling is enabled, i.e. with -fschedule-insns or -fschedule-insns2 or at -O2 or higher.
-freschedule-modulo-scheduled-loops
The modulo scheduling comes before the traditional scheduling, if a loop was modulo scheduled we may want to prevent the later scheduling passes from changing its schedule, we use this option to control that.
-fselective-scheduling
Schedule instructions using selective scheduling algorithm. Selective scheduling runs instead of the first scheduler pass.
-fselective-scheduling2
Schedule instructions using selective scheduling algorithm. Selective scheduling runs instead of the second scheduler pass.
-fsel-sched-pipelining
Enable software pipelining of innermost loops during selective scheduling. This option has no effect until one of -fselective-scheduling or-fselective-scheduling2 is turned on.
-fsel-sched-pipelining-outer-loops
When pipelining loops during selective scheduling, also pipeline outer loops. This option has no effect until -fsel-sched-pipelining is turned on.
-fcaller-saves
Enable values to be allocated in registers that will be clobbered by function calls, by emitting extra instructions to save and restore the registers around such calls. Such allocation is done only when it seems to result in better code than would otherwise be produced.
This option is always enabled by default on certain machines, usually those which have no call-preserved registers to use instead.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fcombine-stack-adjustments
Tracks stack adjustments (pushes and pops) and stack memory references and then tries to find ways to combine them.
Enabled by default at -O1 and higher.
-fconserve-stack
Attempt to minimize stack usage. The compiler will attempt to use less stack space, even if that makes the program slower. This option implies setting the large-stack-frame parameter to 100 and the large-stack-frame-growth parameter to 400.
-ftree-reassoc
Perform reassociation on trees. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-pre
Perform partial redundancy elimination (PRE) on trees. This flag is enabled by default at -O2 and -O3.
-ftree-forwprop
Perform forward propagation on trees. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-fre
Perform full redundancy elimination (FRE) on trees. The difference between FRE and PRE is that FRE only considers expressions that are computed on all paths leading to the redundant computation. This analysis is faster than PRE, though it exposes fewer redundancies. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-phiprop
Perform hoisting of loads from conditional pointers on trees. This pass is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-copy-prop
Perform copy propagation on trees. This pass eliminates unnecessary copy operations. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-fipa-pure-const
Discover which functions are pure or constant. Enabled by default at -O and higher.
-fipa-reference
Discover which static variables do not escape cannot escape the compilation unit. Enabled by default at -O and higher.
-fipa-struct-reorg
Perform structure reorganization optimization, that change C-like structures layout in order to better utilize spatial locality. This transformation is affective for programs containing arrays of structures. Available in two compilation modes: profile-based (enabled with -fprofile-generate) or static (which uses built-in heuristics). It works only in whole program mode, so it requires -fwhole-program to be enabled. Structures considered `cold' by this transformation are not affected (see --param struct-reorg-cold-struct-ratio=value).
With this flag, the program debug info reflects a new structure layout.
-fipa-pta
Perform interprocedural pointer analysis and interprocedural modification and reference analysis. This option can cause excessive memory and compile-time usage on large compilation units. It is not enabled by default at any optimization level.
-fipa-profile
Perform interprocedural profile propagation. The functions called only from cold functions are marked as cold. Also functions executed once (such ascold, noreturn, static constructors or destructors) are identified. Cold functions and loop less parts of functions executed once are then optimized for size. Enabled by default at -O and higher.
-fipa-cp
Perform interprocedural constant propagation. This optimization analyzes the program to determine when values passed to functions are constants and then optimizes accordingly. This optimization can substantially increase performance if the application has constants passed to functions. This flag is enabled by default at -O2, -Os and -O3.
-fipa-cp-clone
Perform function cloning to make interprocedural constant propagation stronger. When enabled, interprocedural constant propagation will perform function cloning when externally visible function can be called with constant arguments. Because this optimization can create multiple copies of functions, it may significantly increase code size (see --param ipcp-unit-growth=value). This flag is enabled by default at -O3.
-fipa-matrix-reorg
Perform matrix flattening and transposing. Matrix flattening tries to replace an m-dimensional matrix with its equivalent n-dimensional matrix, where n < m. This reduces the level of indirection needed for accessing the elements of the matrix. The second optimization is matrix transposing that attempts to change the order of the matrix's dimensions in order to improve cache locality. Both optimizations need the -fwhole-program flag. Transposing is enabled only if profiling information is available.
-ftree-sink
Perform forward store motion on trees. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-bit-ccp
Perform sparse conditional bit constant propagation on trees and propagate pointer alignment information. This pass only operates on local scalar variables and is enabled by default at -O and higher. It requires that -ftree-ccp is enabled.
-ftree-ccp
Perform sparse conditional constant propagation (CCP) on trees. This pass only operates on local scalar variables and is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-switch-conversion
Perform conversion of simple initializations in a switch to initializations from a scalar array. This flag is enabled by default at -O2 and higher.
-ftree-dce
Perform dead code elimination (DCE) on trees. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-builtin-call-dce
Perform conditional dead code elimination (DCE) for calls to builtin functions that may set errno but are otherwise side-effect free. This flag is enabled by default at -O2 and higher if -Os is not also specified.
-ftree-dominator-opts
Perform a variety of simple scalar cleanups (constant/copy propagation, redundancy elimination, range propagation and expression simplification) based on a dominator tree traversal. This also performs jump threading (to reduce jumps to jumps). This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-dse
Perform dead store elimination (DSE) on trees. A dead store is a store into a memory location which will later be overwritten by another store without any intervening loads. In this case the earlier store can be deleted. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-ch
Perform loop header copying on trees. This is beneficial since it increases effectiveness of code motion optimizations. It also saves one jump. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher. It is not enabled for -Os, since it usually increases code size.
-ftree-loop-optimize
Perform loop optimizations on trees. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-loop-linear
Perform loop interchange transformations on tree. Same as-floop-interchange. To use this code transformation, GCC has to be configured with --with-ppl and --with-cloog to enable the Graphite loop transformation infrastructure.
-floop-interchange
Perform loop interchange transformations on loops. Interchanging two nested loops switches the inner and outer loops. For example, given a loop like:
DO J = 1, M
DO I = 1, N
A(J, I) = A(J, I) * C
ENDDO
ENDDO
loop interchange will transform the loop as if the user had written:
DO I = 1, N
DO J = 1, M
A(J, I) = A(J, I) * C
ENDDO
ENDDO
which can be beneficial when N is larger than the caches, because in Fortran, the elements of an array are stored in memory contiguously by column, and the original loop iterates over rows, potentially creating at each access a cache miss. This optimization applies to all the languages supported by GCC and is not limited to Fortran. To use this code transformation, GCC has to be configured with --with-ppl and --with-cloog to enable the Graphite loop transformation infrastructure.
-floop-strip-mine
Perform loop strip mining transformations on loops. Strip mining splits a loop into two nested loops. The outer loop has strides equal to the strip size and the inner loop has strides of the original loop within a strip. The strip length can be changed using the loop-block-tile-size parameter. For example, given a loop like:
DO I = 1, N
A(I) = A(I) + C
ENDDO
loop strip mining will transform the loop as if the user had written:
DO II = 1, N, 51
DO I = II, min (II + 50, N)
A(I) = A(I) + C
ENDDO
ENDDO
This optimization applies to all the languages supported by GCC and is not limited to Fortran. To use this code transformation, GCC has to be configured with --with-ppl and --with-cloog to enable the Graphite loop transformation infrastructure.
-floop-block
Perform loop blocking transformations on loops. Blocking strip mines each loop in the loop nest such that the memory accesses of the element loops fit inside caches. The strip length can be changed using the loop-block-tile-size parameter. For example, given a loop like:
DO I = 1, N
DO J = 1, M
A(J, I) = B(I) + C(J)
ENDDO
ENDDO
loop blocking will transform the loop as if the user had written:
DO II = 1, N, 51
DO JJ = 1, M, 51
DO I = II, min (II + 50, N)
DO J = JJ, min (JJ + 50, M)
A(J, I) = B(I) + C(J)
ENDDO
ENDDO
ENDDO
ENDDO
which can be beneficial when M is larger than the caches, because the innermost loop will iterate over a smaller amount of data that can be kept in the caches. This optimization applies to all the languages supported by GCC and is not limited to Fortran. To use this code transformation, GCC has to be configured with --with-ppland --with-cloog to enable the Graphite loop transformation infrastructure.
-fgraphite-identity
Enable the identity transformation for graphite. For every SCoP we generate the polyhedral representation and transform it back to gimple. Using-fgraphite-identity we can check the costs or benefits of the GIMPLE -> GRAPHITE -> GIMPLE transformation. Some minimal optimizations are also performed by the code generator CLooG, like index splitting and dead code elimination in loops.
-floop-flatten
Removes the loop nesting structure: transforms the loop nest into a single loop. This transformation can be useful to vectorize all the levels of the loop nest.
-floop-parallelize-all
Use the Graphite data dependence analysis to identify loops that can be parallelized. Parallelize all the loops that can be analyzed to not contain loop carried dependences without checking that it is profitable to parallelize the loops.
-fcheck-data-deps
Compare the results of several data dependence analyzers. This option is used for debugging the data dependence analyzers.
-ftree-loop-if-convert
Attempt to transform conditional jumps in the innermost loops to branch-less equivalents. The intent is to remove control-flow from the innermost loops in order to improve the ability of the vectorization pass to handle these loops. This is enabled by default if vectorization is enabled.
-ftree-loop-if-convert-stores
Attempt to also if-convert conditional jumps containing memory writes. This transformation can be unsafe for multi-threaded programs as it transforms conditional memory writes into unconditional memory writes. For example,
for (i = 0; i < N; i++)
if (cond)
A[i] = expr;
would be transformed to
for (i = 0; i < N; i++)
A[i] = cond ? expr : A[i];
potentially producing data races.
-ftree-loop-distribution
Perform loop distribution. This flag can improve cache performance on big loop bodies and allow further loop optimizations, like parallelization or vectorization, to take place. For example, the loop
DO I = 1, N
A(I) = B(I) + C
D(I) = E(I) * F
ENDDO
is transformed to
DO I = 1, N
A(I) = B(I) + C
ENDDO
DO I = 1, N
D(I) = E(I) * F
ENDDO
-ftree-loop-distribute-patterns
Perform loop distribution of patterns that can be code generated with calls to a library. This flag is enabled by default at -O3.
This pass distributes the initialization loops and generates a call to memset zero. For example, the loop
DO I = 1, N
A(I) = 0
B(I) = A(I) + I
ENDDO
is transformed to
DO I = 1, N
A(I) = 0
ENDDO
DO I = 1, N
B(I) = A(I) + I
ENDDO
and the initialization loop is transformed into a call to memset zero.
-ftree-loop-im
Perform loop invariant motion on trees. This pass moves only invariants that would be hard to handle at RTL level (function calls, operations that expand to nontrivial sequences of insns). With -funswitch-loops it also moves operands of conditions that are invariant out of the loop, so that we can use just trivial invariantness analysis in loop unswitching. The pass also includes store motion.
-ftree-loop-ivcanon
Create a canonical counter for number of iterations in the loop for that determining number of iterations requires complicated analysis. Later optimizations then may determine the number easily. Useful especially in connection with unrolling.
-fivopts
Perform induction variable optimizations (strength reduction, induction variable merging and induction variable elimination) on trees.
-ftree-parallelize-loops=n
Parallelize loops, i.e., split their iteration space to run in n threads. This is only possible for loops whose iterations are independent and can be arbitrarily reordered. The optimization is only profitable on multiprocessor machines, for loops that are CPU-intensive, rather than constrained e.g. by memory bandwidth. This option implies -pthread, and thus is only supported on targets that have support for -pthread.
-ftree-pta
Perform function-local points-to analysis on trees. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-sra
Perform scalar replacement of aggregates. This pass replaces structure references with scalars to prevent committing structures to memory too early. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-copyrename
Perform copy renaming on trees. This pass attempts to rename compiler temporaries to other variables at copy locations, usually resulting in variable names which more closely resemble the original variables. This flag is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-ter
Perform temporary expression replacement during the SSA->normal phase. Single use/single def temporaries are replaced at their use location with their defining expression. This results in non-GIMPLE code, but gives the expanders much more complex trees to work on resulting in better RTL generation. This is enabled by default at -O and higher.
-ftree-vectorize
Perform loop vectorization on trees. This flag is enabled by default at-O3.
-ftree-slp-vectorize
Perform basic block vectorization on trees. This flag is enabled by default at-O3 and when -ftree-vectorize is enabled.
-ftree-vect-loop-version
Perform loop versioning when doing loop vectorization on trees. When a loop appears to be vectorizable except that data alignment or data dependence cannot be determined at compile time then vectorized and non-vectorized versions of the loop are generated along with runtime checks for alignment or dependence to control which version is executed. This option is enabled by default except at level -Os where it is disabled.
-fvect-cost-model
Enable cost model for vectorization.
-ftree-vrp
Perform Value Range Propagation on trees. This is similar to the constant propagation pass, but instead of values, ranges of values are propagated. This allows the optimizers to remove unnecessary range checks like array bound checks and null pointer checks. This is enabled by default at -O2 and higher. Null pointer check elimination is only done if -fdelete-null-pointer-checks is enabled.
-ftracer
Perform tail duplication to enlarge superblock size. This transformation simplifies the control flow of the function allowing other optimizations to do better job.
-funroll-loops
Unroll loops whose number of iterations can be determined at compile time or upon entry to the loop. -funroll-loops implies-frerun-cse-after-loop. This option makes code larger, and may or may not make it run faster.
-funroll-all-loops
Unroll all loops, even if their number of iterations is uncertain when the loop is entered. This usually makes programs run more slowly. -funroll-all-loops implies the same options as-funroll-loops,
-fsplit-ivs-in-unroller
Enables expressing of values of induction variables in later iterations of the unrolled loop using the value in the first iteration. This breaks long dependency chains, thus improving efficiency of the scheduling passes.
Combination of -fweb and CSE is often sufficient to obtain the same effect. However in cases the loop body is more complicated than a single basic block, this is not reliable. It also does not work at all on some of the architectures due to restrictions in the CSE pass.
This optimization is enabled by default.
-fvariable-expansion-in-unroller
With this option, the compiler will create multiple copies of some local variables when unrolling a loop which can result in superior code.
-fpartial-inlining
Inline parts of functions. This option has any effect only when inlining itself is turned on by the -finline-functionsor -finline-small-functions options.
Enabled at level -O2.
-fpredictive-commoning
Perform predictive commoning optimization, i.e., reusing computations (especially memory loads and stores) performed in previous iterations of loops.
This option is enabled at level -O3.
-fprefetch-loop-arrays
If supported by the target machine, generate instructions to prefetch memory to improve the performance of loops that access large arrays.
This option may generate better or worse code; results are highly dependent on the structure of loops within the source code.
Disabled at level -Os.
-fno-peephole
-fno-peephole2
Disable any machine-specific peephole optimizations. The difference between -fno-peephole and -fno-peephole2 is in how they are implemented in the compiler; some targets use one, some use the other, a few use both.
-fpeephole is enabled by default. -fpeephole2 enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fno-guess-branch-probability
Do not guess branch probabilities using heuristics.
GCC will use heuristics to guess branch probabilities if they are not provided by profiling feedback (-fprofile-arcs). These heuristics are based on the control flow graph. If some branch probabilities are specified by `__builtin_expect', then the heuristics will be used to guess branch probabilities for the rest of the control flow graph, taking the `__builtin_expect' info into account. The interactions between the heuristics and `__builtin_expect' can be complex, and in some cases, it may be useful to disable the heuristics so that the effects of `__builtin_expect' are easier to understand.
The default is -fguess-branch-probability at levels-O, -O2, -O3, -Os.
-freorder-blocks
Reorder basic blocks in the compiled function in order to reduce number of taken branches and improve code locality.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3.
-freorder-blocks-and-partition
In addition to reordering basic blocks in the compiled function, in order to reduce number of taken branches, partitions hot and cold basic blocks into separate sections of the assembly and .o files, to improve paging and cache locality performance.
This optimization is automatically turned off in the presence of exception handling, for linkonce sections, for functions with a user-defined section attribute and on any architecture that does not support named sections.
-freorder-functions
Reorder functions in the object file in order to improve code locality. This is implemented by using special subsections .text.hot for most frequently executed functions and.text.unlikely for unlikely executed functions. Reordering is done by the linker so object file format must support named sections and linker must place them in a reasonable way.
Also profile feedback must be available in to make this option effective. See-fprofile-arcs for details.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fstrict-aliasing
Allow the compiler to assume the strictest aliasing rules applicable to the language being compiled. For C (and C++), this activates optimizations based on the type of expressions. In particular, an object of one type is assumed never to reside at the same address as an object of a different type, unless the types are almost the same. For example, an unsigned int can alias an int, but not avoid* or a double. A character type may alias any other type.
Pay special attention to code like this:
union a_union {
int i;
double d;
};
int f() {
union a_union t;
t.d = 3.0;
return t.i;
}
The practice of reading from a different union member than the one most recently written to (called “type-punning”) is common. Even with-fstrict-aliasing, type-punning is allowed, provided the memory is accessed through the union type. So, the code above will work as expected. See Structures unions enumerations and bit-fields implementation. However, this code might not:
int f() {
union a_union t;
int* ip;
t.d = 3.0;
ip = &t.i;
return *ip;
}
Similarly, access by taking the address, casting the resulting pointer and dereferencing the result has undefined behavior, even if the cast uses a union type, e.g.:
int f() {
double d = 3.0;
return ((union a_union *) &d)->i;
}
The -fstrict-aliasing option is enabled at levels-O2, -O3, -Os.
-fstrict-overflow
Allow the compiler to assume strict signed overflow rules, depending on the language being compiled. For C (and C++) this means that overflow when doing arithmetic with signed numbers is undefined, which means that the compiler may assume that it will not happen. This permits various optimizations. For example, the compiler will assume that an expression like i + 10 > i will always be true for signed i. This assumption is only valid if signed overflow is undefined, as the expression is false if i + 10 overflows when using twos complement arithmetic. When this option is in effect any attempt to determine whether an operation on signed numbers will overflow must be written carefully to not actually involve overflow.
This option also allows the compiler to assume strict pointer semantics: given a pointer to an object, if adding an offset to that pointer does not produce a pointer to the same object, the addition is undefined. This permits the compiler to conclude that p + u > p is always true for a pointer p and unsigned integeru. This assumption is only valid because pointer wraparound is undefined, as the expression is false if p + u overflows using twos complement arithmetic.
See also the -fwrapv option. Using -fwrapv means that integer signed overflow is fully defined: it wraps. When-fwrapv is used, there is no difference between-fstrict-overflow and -fno-strict-overflow for integers. With -fwrapv certain types of overflow are permitted. For example, if the compiler gets an overflow when doing arithmetic on constants, the overflowed value can still be used with-fwrapv, but not otherwise.
The -fstrict-overflow option is enabled at levels-O2, -O3, -Os.
-falign-functions
-falign-functions=n
Align the start of functions to the next power-of-two greater thann, skipping up to n bytes. For instance,-falign-functions=32 aligns functions to the next 32-byte boundary, but -falign-functions=24 would align to the next 32-byte boundary only if this can be done by skipping 23 bytes or less.
-fno-align-functions and -falign-functions=1 are equivalent and mean that functions will not be aligned.
Some assemblers only support this flag when n is a power of two; in that case, it is rounded up.
If n is not specified or is zero, use a machine-dependent default.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3.
-falign-labels
-falign-labels=n
Align all branch targets to a power-of-two boundary, skipping up ton bytes like -falign-functions. This option can easily make code slower, because it must insert dummy operations for when the branch target is reached in the usual flow of the code.
-fno-align-labels and -falign-labels=1 are equivalent and mean that labels will not be aligned.
If -falign-loops or -falign-jumps are applicable and are greater than this value, then their values are used instead.
If n is not specified or is zero, use a machine-dependent default which is very likely to be `1', meaning no alignment.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3.
-falign-loops
-falign-loops=n
Align loops to a power-of-two boundary, skipping up to n bytes like -falign-functions. The hope is that the loop will be executed many times, which will make up for any execution of the dummy operations.
-fno-align-loops and -falign-loops=1 are equivalent and mean that loops will not be aligned.
If n is not specified or is zero, use a machine-dependent default.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3.
-falign-jumps
-falign-jumps=n
Align branch targets to a power-of-two boundary, for branch targets where the targets can only be reached by jumping, skipping up to nbytes like -falign-functions. In this case, no dummy operations need be executed.
-fno-align-jumps and -falign-jumps=1 are equivalent and mean that loops will not be aligned.
If n is not specified or is zero, use a machine-dependent default.
Enabled at levels -O2, -O3.
-funit-at-a-time
This option is left for compatibility reasons. -funit-at-a-timehas no effect, while -fno-unit-at-a-time implies-fno-toplevel-reorder and -fno-section-anchors.
Enabled by default.
-fno-toplevel-reorder
Do not reorder top-level functions, variables, and asmstatements. Output them in the same order that they appear in the input file. When this option is used, unreferenced static variables will not be removed. This option is intended to support existing code which relies on a particular ordering. For new code, it is better to use attributes.
Enabled at level -O0. When disabled explicitly, it also imply-fno-section-anchors that is otherwise enabled at -O0 on some targets.
-fweb
Constructs webs as commonly used for register allocation purposes and assign each web individual pseudo register. This allows the register allocation pass to operate on pseudos directly, but also strengthens several other optimization passes, such as CSE, loop optimizer and trivial dead code remover. It can, however, make debugging impossible, since variables will no longer stay in a “home register”.
Enabled by default with -funroll-loops.
-fwhole-program
Assume that the current compilation unit represents the whole program being compiled. All public functions and variables with the exception of mainand those merged by attribute externally_visible become static functions and in effect are optimized more aggressively by interprocedural optimizers. If gold is used as the linker plugin, externally_visible attributes are automatically added to functions (not variable yet due to a current gold issue) that are accessed outside of LTO objects according to resolution file produced by gold. For other linkers that cannot generate resolution file, explicit externally_visible attributes are still necessary. While this option is equivalent to proper use of the static keyword for programs consisting of a single file, in combination with option-flto this flag can be used to compile many smaller scale programs since the functions and variables become local for the whole combined compilation unit, not for the single source file itself.
This option implies -fwhole-file for Fortran programs.
-flto[=n]
This option runs the standard link-time optimizer. When invoked with source code, it generates GIMPLE (one of GCC's internal representations) and writes it to special ELF sections in the object file. When the object files are linked together, all the function bodies are read from these ELF sections and instantiated as if they had been part of the same translation unit.
To use the link-timer optimizer, -flto needs to be specified at compile time and during the final link. For example,
gcc -c -O2 -flto foo.c
gcc -c -O2 -flto bar.c
gcc -o myprog -flto -O2 foo.o bar.o
The first two invocations to GCC will save a bytecode representation of GIMPLE into special ELF sections inside foo.o andbar.o. The final invocation will read the GIMPLE bytecode fromfoo.o and bar.o, merge the two files into a single internal image, and compile the result as usual. Since bothfoo.o and bar.o are merged into a single image, this causes all the inter-procedural analyses and optimizations in GCC to work across the two files as if they were a single one. This means, for example, that the inliner will be able to inline functions inbar.o into functions in foo.o and vice-versa.
Another (simpler) way to enable link-time optimization is,
gcc -o myprog -flto -O2 foo.c bar.c
The above will generate bytecode for foo.c and bar.c, merge them together into a single GIMPLE representation and optimize them as usual to produce myprog.
The only important thing to keep in mind is that to enable link-time optimizations the -flto flag needs to be passed to both the compile and the link commands.
To make whole program optimization effective, it is necessary to make certain whole program assumptions. The compiler needs to know what functions and variables can be accessed by libraries and runtime outside of the link time optimized unit. When supported by the linker, the linker plugin (see -fuse-linker-plugin) passes to the compiler information about used and externally visible symbols. When the linker plugin is not available, -fwhole-program should be used to allow the compiler to make these assumptions, which will lead to more aggressive optimization decisions.
Note that when a file is compiled with -flto, the generated object file will be larger than a regular object file because it will contain GIMPLE bytecodes and the usual final code. This means that object files with LTO information can be linked as a normal object file. So, in the previous example, if the final link is done with
gcc -o myprog foo.o bar.o
The only difference will be that no inter-procedural optimizations will be applied to produce myprog. The two object filesfoo.o and bar.o will be simply sent to the regular linker.
Additionally, the optimization flags used to compile individual files are not necessarily related to those used at link-time. For instance,
gcc -c -O0 -flto foo.c
gcc -c -O0 -flto bar.c
gcc -o myprog -flto -O3 foo.o bar.o
This will produce individual object files with unoptimized assembler code, but the resulting binary myprog will be optimized at-O3. Now, if the final binary is generated without-flto, then myprog will not be optimized.
When producing the final binary with -flto, GCC will only apply link-time optimizations to those files that contain bytecode. Therefore, you can mix and match object files and libraries with GIMPLE bytecodes and final object code. GCC will automatically select which files to optimize in LTO mode and which files to link without further processing.
There are some code generation flags that GCC will preserve when generating bytecodes, as they need to be used during the final link stage. Currently, the following options are saved into the GIMPLE bytecode files: -fPIC, -fcommon and all the-m target flags.
At link time, these options are read-in and reapplied. Note that the current implementation makes no attempt at recognizing conflicting values for these options. If two or more files have a conflicting value (e.g., one file is compiled with -fPIC and another isn't), the compiler will simply use the last value read from the bytecode files. It is recommended, then, that all the files participating in the same link be compiled with the same options.
Another feature of LTO is that it is possible to apply interprocedural optimizations on files written in different languages. This requires some support in the language front end. Currently, the C, C++ and Fortran front ends are capable of emitting GIMPLE bytecodes, so something like this should work
gcc -c -flto foo.c
g++ -c -flto bar.cc
gfortran -c -flto baz.f90
g++ -o myprog -flto -O3 foo.o bar.o baz.o -lgfortran
Notice that the final link is done with g++ to get the C++ runtime libraries and -lgfortran is added to get the Fortran runtime libraries. In general, when mixing languages in LTO mode, you should use the same link command used when mixing languages in a regular (non-LTO) compilation. This means that if your build process was mixing languages before, all you need to add is -flto to all the compile and link commands.
If LTO encounters objects with C linkage declared with incompatible types in separate translation units to be linked together (undefined behavior according to ISO C99 6.2.7), a non-fatal diagnostic may be issued. The behavior is still undefined at runtime.
If object files containing GIMPLE bytecode are stored in a library archive, saylibfoo.a, it is possible to extract and use them in an LTO link if you are using a linker with linker plugin support. To enable this feature, use the flag -fuse-linker-plugin at link-time:
gcc -o myprog -O2 -flto -fuse-linker-plugin a.o b.o -lfoo
With the linker plugin enabled, the linker will extract the needed GIMPLE files from libfoo.a and pass them on to the running GCC to make them part of the aggregated GIMPLE image to be optimized.
If you are not using a linker with linker plugin support and/or do not enable linker plugin then the objects inside libfoo.awill be extracted and linked as usual, but they will not participate in the LTO optimization process.
Link time optimizations do not require the presence of the whole program to operate. If the program does not require any symbols to be exported, it is possible to combine -flto and with -fwhole-program to allow the interprocedural optimizers to use more aggressive assumptions which may lead to improved optimization opportunities. Use of -fwhole-program is not needed when linker plugin is active (see -fuse-linker-plugin).
Regarding portability: the current implementation of LTO makes no attempt at generating bytecode that can be ported between different types of hosts. The bytecode files are versioned and there is a strict version check, so bytecode files generated in one version of GCC will not work with an older/newer version of GCC.
Link time optimization does not play well with generating debugging information. Combining -flto with-g is currently experimental and expected to produce wrong results.
If you specify the optional n, the optimization and code generation done at link time is executed in parallel using nparallel jobs by utilizing an installed make program. The environment variable MAKE may be used to override the program used. The default value for n is 1.
You can also specify -flto=jobserver to use GNU make's job server mode to determine the number of parallel jobs. This is useful when the Makefile calling GCC is already executing in parallel. The parent Makefile will need a `+' prepended to the command recipe for this to work. This will likely only work if MAKE is GNU make.
This option is disabled by default.
-flto-partition=alg
Specify the partitioning algorithm used by the link time optimizer. The value is either 1to1 to specify a partitioning mirroring the original source files or balanced to specify partitioning into equally sized chunks (whenever possible). Specifying noneas an algorithm disables partitioning and streaming completely. The default value is balanced.
-flto-compression-level=n
This option specifies the level of compression used for intermediate language written to LTO object files, and is only meaningful in conjunction with LTO mode (-flto). Valid values are 0 (no compression) to 9 (maximum compression). Values outside this range are clamped to either 0 or 9. If the option is not given, a default balanced compression setting is used.
-flto-report
Prints a report with internal details on the workings of the link-time optimizer. The contents of this report vary from version to version, it is meant to be useful to GCC developers when processing object files in LTO mode (via -flto).
Disabled by default.
-fuse-linker-plugin
Enables the use of linker plugin during link time optimization. This option relies on the linker plugin support in linker that is available in gold or in GNU ld 2.21 or newer.
This option enables the extraction of object files with GIMPLE bytecode out of library archives. This improves the quality of optimization by exposing more code the the link time optimizer. This information specify what symbols can be accessed externally (by non-LTO object or during dynamic linking). Resulting code quality improvements on binaries (and shared libraries that do use hidden visibility) is similar to -fwhole-program. See-flto for a description on the effect of this flag and how to use it.
Enabled by default when LTO support in GCC is enabled and GCC was compiled with a linker supporting plugins (GNU ld 2.21 or newer or gold).
-fcompare-elim
After register allocation and post-register allocation instruction splitting, identify arithmetic instructions that compute processor flags similar to a comparison operation based on that arithmetic. If possible, eliminate the explicit comparison operation.
This pass only applies to certain targets that cannot explicitly represent the comparison operation before register allocation is complete.
Enabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fcprop-registers
After register allocation and post-register allocation instruction splitting, we perform a copy-propagation pass to try to reduce scheduling dependencies and occasionally eliminate the copy.
Enabled at levels -O, -O2, -O3, -Os.
-fprofile-correction
Profiles collected using an instrumented binary for multi-threaded programs may be inconsistent due to missed counter updates. When this option is specified, GCC will use heuristics to correct or smooth out such inconsistencies. By default, GCC will emit an error message when an inconsistent profile is detected.
-fprofile-dir=path
Set the directory to search for the profile data files in to path. This option affects only the profile data generated by-fprofile-generate, -ftest-coverage, -fprofile-arcsand used by -fprofile-use and -fbranch-probabilitiesand its related options. By default, GCC will use the current directory as path, thus the profile data file will appear in the same directory as the object file.
-fprofile-generate
-fprofile-generate=path
Enable options usually used for instrumenting application to produce profile useful for later recompilation with profile feedback based optimization. You must use -fprofile-generate both when compiling and when linking your program.
The following options are enabled: -fprofile-arcs, -fprofile-values, -fvpt.
If path is specified, GCC will look at the path to find the profile feedback data files. See -fprofile-dir.
-fprofile-use
-fprofile-use=path
Enable profile feedback directed optimizations, and optimizations generally profitable only with profile feedback available.
The following options are enabled: -fbranch-probabilities, -fvpt,-funroll-loops, -fpeel-loops, -ftracer
By default, GCC emits an error message if the feedback profiles do not match the source code. This error can be turned into a warning by using-Wcoverage-mismatch. Note this may result in poorly optimized code.
If path is specified, GCC will look at the path to find the profile feedback data files. See -fprofile-dir.
The following options control compiler behavior regarding floating point arithmetic. These options trade off between speed and correctness. All must be specifically enabled.
The following options control optimizations that may improve performance, but are not enabled by any -O options. This section includes experimental options that may produce broken code.