Engineering a Compiler, 2nd Edition

Chapter 8. Introduction to Optimization

To improve the quality of the code that it generates, an optimizing compiler analyzes the code and rewrites it into a more efficient form. This chapter introduces the problems and techniques of code optimization and presents key concepts through a series of example optimizations. Chapter 9 expands on this material with a deeper exploration of program analysis. Chapter 10 provides a broader coverage of optimizing transformations.

Keywords: Optimization, Safety, Profitability, Scope of Optimization, Analysis, Transformation

8.1. Introduction

The compiler's front end translates the source-code program into some intermediate representation ( ir). The back end translates the ir program into a form where it can execute ...