Author: David Rasmussen
Date: 09:39:47 11/13/02
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On November 13, 2002 at 11:32:14, Bob Durrett wrote: > >What is the problem with GCC? Why does GCC give slower code? In context of the >earlier "optimizer" discussion, is there a a particularly difficult problem with >"optimizing" which is inherent in GCC or Linux? > It has nothing to do with the OS. MSVC could "easily" be ported to Linux and would generate as good code there as it does on Windows. GCC is simply (for most chess programs) not producing as good code. The reasons for this are many and very complex. Compiler design and construction is one of the most if not the most complex and difficult area of computer science. It is not trivial at all to make as good a compiler as MSVC. GCC is very impressive in it's own right. It is available for a wide range of platforms. That in itself is impressive. >I'm still trying to better understand and determine what it is that affects >chess engine performance. I would also like to better understand why "the Fritz >people" would avoid the use of compilers altogether. Because no compiler can make as good code as the Fritz programmers can themselves. Some languages help the compiler optimize more than others, but none are perfect. Modern Ada95 is certainly better than C or C++, but in practice, there have been put a lot more effort into C and C++ compilers than in Ada compilers. > [They only program for >Windows, so portability may not be such a big issue for them.] Maybe 100 rating >points is enough to put them at the top of the SSDF list? > I don't understand this. >From previous threads, I understand a programmer's desire to make his/her chess >engine software "portable," and understand that this entails taking a hit in >performance. But when comparing compilers, it's not so clear to me why one >compiler should be so much better than another. > How are you comparing them? Some compilers are vastly better than others given a certain program. That's just the way it is. /David
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