Applications Demand Class-Specific Optimizations: The C++ Compiler Can Do More

Issue title: The First Annual Object-Oriented Numerics Conference (OON-SKI '93)

Article type: Research Article

Authors: ANGUS, IAN G.

Affiliations: Boeing Computer Services, Seattle, WA 98124-0346

Abstract: So far C++ has made few inroads into the realm of scientific computing, which is still largely dominated by Fortran. Of the few attempts that have been made to apply C++ to numerically intensive codes, the results have often suffered from severe performance problems. A careful examination of these problems indicates that they are unlikely to be solved by incremental improvements in compiler optimization technology. The flow of this article will: motivate the discussion by describing a common efficiency problem that arises when numerical codes are programmed in C++; discuss some potential solution strategies that we believe are viable in the near term, but not over the long term; introduce a mechanism by which a compiler can load domain-specific and class-specific optimizations on an as needed basis. A simple interface that will enable this feature will be presented. Althoug our immediate motivation is that of numerically intensive codes, our approach is applicable to all application domains.

Journal: Scientific Programming, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 123-131, 1993