Code Optimization: Code optimization is: “the process of improving the efficiency, performance, and overall quality of software code without changing its functionality
Code Optimization tries to improve the intermediate code by making it consume fewer resources (i.e. CPU, Memory) so that faster-running machine code will result
Optimizing process should meet the following objectives
Optimization must be correct; it must not change the meaning of the program.
Optimization should increase the speed and performance of the program.
Compilation time must be kept reasonable
Optimization process should not delay the overall compiling process.
Principal Sources of Optimization
Basic Principal Sources of optimization are
Compile Time Evaluation:
Compile time evaluation means that the value of some variable was determined when everything is compiled into object files.
Run time evaluation would mean that the value of some variable has to be determined at runtime Variable Propagation:
Replacing the variables with Known constants at complile time only which can improve the optimization technique.
Constant Propagation:
If the value of a variable is a constant, then replace the variable with the constant. The variable may not always be a constant.
Constant Folding:
Consider an expression : a = b op c and the values b and c are constants, then the value of a can be computed at compile time. Common Sub Expression Elimination
In the above example, a*b and x*b is a common sub expression so eliminating x and replacing with a
Dead Code Elimination:
A variable is said to be dead if it is never used after its last definition.In order to find the dead variables, a data flow analysis should be done.
Unreachable Code Elimination:
The block which does not have an incoming edge is an Unreachable code block. After constant propagation and constant folding, the unreachable branches can be eliminated.
Induction Variable and Strength Reduction:
An induction variable is used in the loop for the following kind of assignment i = i + constant. It is a kind of Loop Optimization Technique.
Strength reduction means replacing the high strength operator with a low strength Basic Blocks Basic block is a set of statements that always executes in a sequence one after the other.
Basic block contains a sequence of statement. The flow of control enters at the beginning of the statement and leave at the end without any halt (except may be the last instruction of the block).
Characteristics of basic blocks are
They do not contain any kind of jump statements in them.
There is no possibility of branching or getting halt in the middle. All the statements execute in the same order they appear. They do not lose lose the flow control of the program.
Example Of Basic Block
Three Address Code for the expression a = b + c + d as basic block is
Here all the statements execute in a sequence one after the other. Thus, they form a basic block.
Example Of Not A Basic Block
Three Address Code for the expression If A<B then 1 else 0 is
Here the statements do not execute in a sequence one after the other.Thus, they do not form a basic block.
Partitioning Intermediate Code Into Basic Blocks
Any given code can be partitioned into basic blocks using the following rules
Rule 1: Determining Leaders
Following statements of the code are called as Leaders
First statement of the code.
Statement that is a target of the conditional or unconditional goto statement. Statement that appears immediately after a goto statement.
Rule 2: Determining Basic Blocks
All the statements that follow the leader (including the leader) till the next leader appears form one basic block. The first statement of the code is called as the first leader. The block containing the first leader is called as Initial block Consider the following source code for dot product of two vectors a and b of length 10
The three address code for the above source program is given below: Optimization of basic Blocks Optimization is applied to the basic blocks after the intermediate code generation phase of the compiler. In optimization, high-level codes are replaced by their equivalent efficient low- level codes.
Optimization of basic blocks can be machine-dependent or machine-independent.
There are two types of basic block optimizations
The structure-preserving transformation on basic blocks includes
1. Dead Code Elimination
Dead code is defined as that part of the code that never executes during the program execution. So, for optimization, such code or dead code is eliminated 2. Common Sub Expression Elimination
The sub-expression which are common are used frequently are calculated only once and reused when needed. DAG ( Directed Acyclic Graph ) is used to eliminate common sub expressions.
3. Renaming of Temporary variables
Statements containing instances of a temporary variable can be changed to instances of a
new temporary variable without changing the basic block value.
Example: Statement t = a + b can be changed to x = a + b where t is a temporary variable
and x is a new temporary variable without changing the value of the basic block.
4. Interchange of two independent adjacent statements
If a block has two adjacent statements which are independent can be interchanged without affecting the basic block value. These two independent statements of a block can be interchanged without affecting the value of the block.
Algebraic Transformation:
Algebraic transformations can be used to change the set of expressions computed by a
basic block into an algebraically equivalent set
1. Constant Folding
Solve the constant terms which are continuous so that compiler does not need to solve this expression.
2. Copy Propagation It is of two types, Variable Propagation, and Constant Propagation.
Flow graph is a directed graph. It contains the flow of control information for the set of basic block.
A control flow graph is used to depict that how the program control is being parsed among the blocks. It is useful in the loop optimization
Flow graph for the vector dot product is given as follows:
Block B1 is the initial node. Block B2 immediately follows B1, so from B2 to B1 there is an edge. The target of jump from last statement of B1 is the first statement B2, so from B1 to B2 there is an edge. B2 is a successor of B1 and B1 is the predecessor of B2.
LOOP OPTIMIZATION Loop optimization is most valuable machine-independent optimization because program's inner loop takes bulk to time of a programmer.
If we decrease the number of instructions in an inner loop then the running time of a program may be improved even if we increase the amount of code outside that loop.
For loop optimization the following three techniques are important:
1.Code Motion: Code motion is used to decrease the amount of code in loop. This transformation takes a statement or expression which can be moved outside the loop body without affecting the semantics of the program.
In the while statement, the limit-2 equation is a loop invariant equation.
2.Induction-Variable Elimination
Induction variable elimination is used to replace variable from inner loop.
It can reduce the number of additions in a loop. It improves both code space and run time performance. In the above figure, we can replace the assignment t4:=4*j by t4:=t4-4.
The only problem which will be arose that t4 does not have a value when we enter block B2 for the first time. So we place a relation t4=4*j on entry to the block B2.
3. Reduction in Strength Strength reduction is used to replace the expensive operation by the cheaper once on the target machine.
Addition of a constant is cheaper than a multiplication. So we can replace multiplication with
an addition within the loop.
Multiplication is cheaper than exponentiation. So we can replace exponentiation with
multiplication within the loop.
In the above code, it is cheaper to compute s=s+6 than j=3 *i
DATA FLOW ANALYSIS Data flow analysis is a global code optimization technique. The compiler performs code optimization efficiently by collecting all the information about a program and distributing it to each block of its control flow graph (CFG). This process is known as data flow analysis.
Since optimization has to be done on the entire program, the whole program is examined, and the compiler collects information.
Note: The control flow graph represents a program in blocks depicting how the control of the program is being passed from one block to another.
Basic Technologies Below are some basic terminologies related to data flow analysis.
Definition Point- A definition point is a point in a program that defines a data item. Reference Point- A reference point is a point in a program that contains a reference to a data item. Evaluation Point- An evaluation point is a point in a program that contains an expression to be evaluated.
The below diagram shows an example of a definition point, a reference point, and an evaluation point in a program. PREEHOLE OPTMIZATION Peephole optimization is a type of code Optimization performed on a small part of the code. It is performed on a very small set of instructions in a segment of code.
It basically works on the theory of replacement in which a part of code is replaced by shorter and faster code without a change in output. The peephole is machine-dependent optimization.
Objectives of Peephole Optimization:
1. To improve performance 2. To reduce memory footprint 3. To reduce code size
Some of Peephole Optimization Techniques
Redundant load and store elimination
This technique used to redundancy is eliminated.
Constant folding:
The code that can be simplified by the user itself, is simplified. Here simplification to be done at runtime are replaced with simplified code to avoid additional computation. Strength Reduction:
The operators that consume higher execution time are replaced by the operators consuming less execution time.
