Patches to compile the kernel with Intel's C/C++ compiler

[Alexander Leidinger]

On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 16:43:02 +0100
Morten Rodal <morten at rodal.no> wrote:

> The Intel C compiler is known to generate far better code for the 
> Pentium 4 processor family (and more likely the Itanium processors), and 
> probably others as well.  It certanly beats gcc in most benchmark tests 
> and other scientific applications.

It depends on the benchmarks you do and if they are optimized for a
specific compiler or not (I don't want to implicate, that those
benchmarks which show a large benefit for icc to be optimized for icc,
generally I think icc produces better code than gcc, but as usual, this
depends on the used code and the used data which gets processed (you
know: benchmarks data != real world data you are confronted with) and
many more factors than only the compiler).

> I have found that icc generates far more, and more accurate, warnings 
> and errors for programs and this is probably what the FreeBSD kernel 
> could benefit most from.  Having more than one compiler helps the 
> developers find bugs faster.

Yes, it produces nice warnings. If some is interested (and isn't willing
to download the >60 MB icc tarball) I can put up the log of a compiled
GENERIC or LINT kernel (or a subsystem) for download. This isn't the
same as seeing the warnings/errors at development time, but I think
could be still usable.

Bye,
Alexander.

-- 
              The best things in life are free, but the
                expensive ones are still worth a look.

http://www.Leidinger.net                       Alexander @ Leidinger.net
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