//===- README_X86_64.txt - Notes for X86-64 code gen ----------------------===// AMD64 Optimization Manual 8.2 has some nice information about optimizing integer multiplication by a constant. How much of it applies to Intel's X86-64 implementation? There are definite trade-offs to consider: latency vs. register pressure vs. code size. //===---------------------------------------------------------------------===// Are we better off using branches instead of cmove to implement FP to unsigned i64? _conv: ucomiss LC0(%rip), %xmm0 cvttss2siq %xmm0, %rdx jb L3 subss LC0(%rip), %xmm0 movabsq $-9223372036854775808, %rax cvttss2siq %xmm0, %rdx xorq %rax, %rdx L3: movq %rdx, %rax ret instead of _conv: movss LCPI1_0(%rip), %xmm1 cvttss2siq %xmm0, %rcx movaps %xmm0, %xmm2 subss %xmm1, %xmm2 cvttss2siq %xmm2, %rax movabsq $-9223372036854775808, %rdx xorq %rdx, %rax ucomiss %xmm1, %xmm0 cmovb %rcx, %rax ret Seems like the jb branch has high likelihood of being taken. It would have saved a few instructions. //===---------------------------------------------------------------------===// It's not possible to reference AH, BH, CH, and DH registers in an instruction requiring REX prefix. However, divb and mulb both produce results in AH. If isel emits a CopyFromReg which gets turned into a movb and that can be allocated a r8b - r15b. To get around this, isel emits a CopyFromReg from AX and then right shift it down by 8 and truncate it. It's not pretty but it works. We need some register allocation magic to make the hack go away (e.g. putting additional constraints on the result of the movb). //===---------------------------------------------------------------------===// The x86-64 ABI for hidden-argument struct returns requires that the incoming value of %rdi be copied into %rax by the callee upon return. The idea is that it saves callers from having to remember this value, which would often require a callee-saved register. Callees usually need to keep this value live for most of their body anyway, so it doesn't add a significant burden on them. We currently implement this in codegen, however this is suboptimal because it means that it would be quite awkward to implement the optimization for callers. A better implementation would be to relax the LLVM IR rules for sret arguments to allow a function with an sret argument to have a non-void return type, and to have the front-end to set up the sret argument value as the return value of the function. The front-end could more easily emit uses of the returned struct value to be in terms of the function's lowered return value, and it would free non-C frontends from a complication only required by a C-based ABI. //===---------------------------------------------------------------------===// We get a redundant zero extension for code like this: int mask[1000]; int foo(unsigned x) { if (x < 10) x = x * 45; else x = x * 78; return mask[x]; } _foo: LBB1_0: ## entry cmpl $9, %edi jbe LBB1_3 ## bb LBB1_1: ## bb1 imull $78, %edi, %eax LBB1_2: ## bb2 movl %eax, %eax <---- movq _mask@GOTPCREL(%rip), %rcx movl (%rcx,%rax,4), %eax ret LBB1_3: ## bb imull $45, %edi, %eax jmp LBB1_2 ## bb2 Before regalloc, we have: %reg1025 = IMUL32rri8 %reg1024, 45, %EFLAGS JMP mbb Successors according to CFG: 0x203afb0 (#3) bb1: 0x203af60, LLVM BB @0x1e02310, ID#2: Predecessors according to CFG: 0x203aec0 (#0) %reg1026 = IMUL32rri8 %reg1024, 78, %EFLAGS Successors according to CFG: 0x203afb0 (#3) bb2: 0x203afb0, LLVM BB @0x1e02340, ID#3: Predecessors according to CFG: 0x203af10 (#1) 0x203af60 (#2) %reg1027 = PHI %reg1025, mbb, %reg1026, mbb %reg1029 = MOVZX64rr32 %reg1027 so we'd have to know that IMUL32rri8 leaves the high word zero extended and to be able to recognize the zero extend. This could also presumably be implemented if we have whole-function selectiondags. //===---------------------------------------------------------------------===// Take the following code (from http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=34653): extern unsigned long table[]; unsigned long foo(unsigned char *p) { unsigned long tag = *p; return table[tag >> 4] + table[tag & 0xf]; } Current code generated: movzbl (%rdi), %eax movq %rax, %rcx andq $240, %rcx shrq %rcx andq $15, %rax movq table(,%rax,8), %rax addq table(%rcx), %rax ret Issues: 1. First movq should be movl; saves a byte. 2. Both andq's should be andl; saves another two bytes. I think this was implemented at one point, but subsequently regressed. 3. shrq should be shrl; saves another byte. 4. The first andq can be completely eliminated by using a slightly more expensive addressing mode. //===---------------------------------------------------------------------===// Consider the following (contrived testcase, but contains common factors): #include int test(int x, ...) { int sum, i; va_list l; va_start(l, x); for (i = 0; i < x; i++) sum += va_arg(l, int); va_end(l); return sum; } Testcase given in C because fixing it will likely involve changing the IR generated for it. The primary issue with the result is that it doesn't do any of the optimizations which are possible if we know the address of a va_list in the current function is never taken: 1. We shouldn't spill the XMM registers because we only call va_arg with "int". 2. It would be nice if we could scalarrepl the va_list. 3. Probably overkill, but it'd be cool if we could peel off the first five iterations of the loop. Other optimizations involving functions which use va_arg on floats which don't have the address of a va_list taken: 1. Conversely to the above, we shouldn't spill general registers if we only call va_arg on "double". 2. If we know nothing more than 64 bits wide is read from the XMM registers, we can change the spilling code to reduce the amount of stack used by half. //===---------------------------------------------------------------------===//