The effects of compiler options on application performance

Compiler optimizations play a pivotal role in determining the run-time performance of an application. Performance improvements stem from path length reduction, efficient instruction selection, pipeline scheduling, and memory penalty minimization. This paper describes typical optimizations and highlights the mechanisms by which they improve performance. We categorize the described optimizations as basic, architecture specific, interprocedural, and source level. To accurately make trade-offs in the hardware design process, compiler/hardware interaction is essential in the early design stages