US 5,966,538 A · Method and apparatus for automatically determining which compiler options should be used when compiling a computer program

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for automatically determining which compiler options should be used in compiling a computer program. The present invention utilizes a set of encodable rules in combination with application-specific information obtained from a compiler user, and/or during the compilation process, and/or during run time, and which presents the compiler user with a set of recommended compiler options via a user interface. The user may then select the recommended compiler options to be applied on a program level, i.e., one set for an application, or on a module-per-module level, i.e., with potentially different recommendations for different modules of a program. The present invention utilizes user information obtained from interviewing the compiler user, such as, for example, failure tolerance, compile-time tolerance, application type, etc., compile-time information obtained during one or more compilations of the program, such as, for example, characteristics of loops and data access patterns, and profile information collected at run time, such as, for example, the number of times that a particular call site was invoked while running the particular application, the percentage of time spent in particular routines, etc. The rules then use the information obtained to automatically determine and recommend a set of application-specific compiler options.

Claims52

Dependent claims

An apparatus for automatically determining whether at least one compiler option should be enabled, the apparatus comprising:

a computer running a compiler optimization routine, the computer utilizing a compiler program to compile a computer program, the computer obtaining compile-time information during at least one compilation of the computer program, and
a user interface coupled to the computer, the optimization routine utilizing the compile-time information to determine whether said at least one compiler option should be enabled during a subsequent compilation of the computer program to improve compiler performance, the optimization routine causing a compiler option recommendation to be output to the user via the user interface, the compiler option recommendation recommending which, if any, compiler options should be enabled during a subsequent compilation of the computer program.

An apparatus for automatically determining whether a compiler option should be enabled, the apparatus comprising:

a user interface for receiving information from a compiler user and for outputting information to the compiler user;
and
a computer running a compiler optimization routine, the computer coupled to the user interface for receiving information from the user interface and for outputting information to the user interface, the computer receiving user information from the user interface, the optimization routine utilizing the user information to determine whether at least one compiler option should be enabled during a subsequent compilation of the computer program to improve compiler performance, the optimization routine causing a compiler option recommendation to be output to the user via the user interface, the compiler option recommendation recommending which, if any, compiler options should be enabled during a subsequent compilation of the computer program.

A method for automatically determining whether a compiler option should be enabled during a compilation of a computer program, the method comprising the steps of:

utilizing a compiler program in a computer to compile a computer program;
obtaining compile-time information during at least one compilation of the computer program;
utilizing the compile-time information in a compiler optimization routine to determine whether said at least one compiler option should be enabled during a subsequent compilation of the computer program to improve compiler performance;
and
outputting a compiler option recommendation via a user interface coupled to the computer, the compiler option recommendation being based on the determination of whether said at least one compiler option should be enabled.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and apparatus for automatically determining which compiler options should be used when compiling a computer program

Life of this patent

Method and apparatus for automatically determining which compiler options should be used when compiling a computer program

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims52