Optimizing compiler

Program execution
General concepts
Types of code
Compilation strategies
Notable runtimes
Notable compilers & toolchains

An optimizing compiler is a compiler designed to generate code that is optimized in aspects such as minimizing program execution time, memory usage, storage size, and power consumption.[1] Optimization is generally implemented as a sequence of optimizing transformations, algorithms that transform code to produce semantically equivalent code optimized for some aspect.

In practice, factors such as available memory and a programmer's willingness to wait for compilation, limit the optimizations a compiler might provide. Research indicates that some optimization problems are NP-complete, or even undecidable.[2] In general, optimization cannot produce optimal output, which is impossible in a general sense since optimizing for one aspect may degrade performance for another. Rather, optimizations are heuristic methods for improving resource usage in typical programs.[3]: 585 

  1. ^ Godbolt, Matt (November 12, 2019). "Optimizations in C++ Compilers". ACM Queue. Vol. 17, no. 5.
  2. ^ "Lecture 15: NP-completeness, Optimization and Separation" (PDF). IE 511: Integer Programming, Spring 2021.
  3. ^ Aho, Alfred V.; Sethi, Ravi; Ullman, Jeffrey D. (1986). Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-10088-6.