Intel C/C++ Compiler for Linux!

Raystonn

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Intel will be offering it's Intel C/C++ Compiler for Linux starting late next month (May) as a beta test. The currently available compilers for Linux are very lacking in optimizations compared to what's available in Windows. Gcc/g++ haven't had any remarkable processor optimizations added since the Pentium was introduced. This compiler will finally allow full optimizations for all CPUs, including the Pentium 4, for applications built in Linux. This includes the kernel itself.

For more information, and to sign up for the beta, go here:

http://developer.intel.com/software/products/compilers/

-Raystonn


-- The center of your digital world --
 
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I signed up for the beta a week or so ago.

Please note also that Gnu is not the only choice for C/C++/Fortran compilers on Linux. A few others are:

<A HREF="http://www.pgroup.com/" target="_new">Portland Group</A> They are known for their parallelizing compiler.

<A HREF="http://www.kai.com/C_plus_plus/" target="_new">Kai</A> I tried their free trial that came with RedHat 6.2. I had some problems with it, but that was over a year ago and I didn't mess with it to much.

<A HREF="http://www.metrowerks.com/" target="_new">CodeWarrior</A> Don't know much at all about this one.

I've seen benchmarks showing substantially better performance from these compilers the Gnu, but I can't seem to find them now :frown: Links anybody?

Also, <A HREF="http://www.absoft.com/" target="_new">Absoft</A> makes an outstanding Fortran compiler for Linux if you're unfortunate enough to have to work with Fortran :smile: I've used it extensively.


In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.
 

Kelledin

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Gcc/g++ haven't had any remarkable processor optimizations added since the Pentium was introduced.
Heard of AthlonGCC? <A HREF="http://www.athlonlinux.org/" target="_new">http://www.athlonlinux.org/</A>

Now if Intel open-sources their Linux compiler, I'd be rather more interested.

Kelledin

bash-2.04$ kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?
 
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Have you tried the Athlon optimized GCC at all?

If you go to the <A HREF="http://hannah.ipc.miyakyo-u.ac.jp/kim/Linux/pgcc-athlon.html" target="_new">site</A> of the Japanese guy that started the project, he has some benchmarks that don't impress me much. Some very small gains (1% to 2%), some relatively large losses (1% to 9%), and one disasterous result for a neural net benchmark.

These results, and the fact that the latest patch is over a year old (latest site update > 6 months old), and I'm thinking this may be a dead effort.


In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.
 

Kelledin

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I've actually tried it, yes. Some things I don't use it to compile--glibc 2.2.1 actually seems to require gcc 2.95.3 or higher (actually, the recommended compiler is gcc 3.x, but that doesn't exist yet. :wink: 29.5.3 does fine though). I don't use it to compile my kernel--I actually use gcc 2.91.66 (egcs) for kernel compiles, for maximum stability. I won't use an untested compiler in the face of all the kernel's compiler magic.

For everything else, I go ahead and use Athlon optimizations. In integer optimizations, it doesn't seem to help, but I've gotten up to 10% boosts in some floating-point stuff. I certainly haven't noticed any losses...

One thing I do different from the guy running the site--I do -malign-*=4. That optimizes the whole shebang for quick prefetching but makes the resulting binary somewhat larger. I wonder if that makes the difference?

Kelledin

bash-2.04$ kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?
 

HolyGrenade

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You're not too familiar with the world of linux, are you?


<font color=red>"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and dispair!"</font color=red>
 

Kelledin

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He's not too familiar with the world, <i>period.</i> :wink:

I basically refused to dignify his latest crap with a response.

Kelledin

bash-2.04$ kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?
 

AmdMELTDOWN

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>You're not too familiar with the world of linux, are you?

no, duh what is linux? the peanuts charactor? :eek:

we all know BSD is better!!! hehehe.



"AMD...you are the weakest link, good bye!"
 
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Ok, I'll give it a try when I get a chance.
I agree on kernel & system library compiles though. To much magic fairy dust in the kernel to be mucking around with alpha-release compilers.

All the people that say "It just needs a recompile for the P4." tend to not understand what that really means for large projects. It often means a whole new validation cycle, which is far from trivial. I've seen some projects that will only be used if compiled with a specific, obsolete compiler, because it's a critical system and has only been validated with that compiler. And the validation process is very difficult & expensive. That's why you see some people still using 2.0 series kernels. It may be buggy, but they are known & understood bugs.

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.