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Re: Go patch committed: Build math library with -funsafe-math-optimizations


Richard Guenther <richard.guenther@gmail.com> writes:

> On Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 6:32 PM, Ian Lance Taylor <iant@google.com> wrote:
>> Richard Guenther <richard.guenther@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> On Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 8:38 PM, Ian Lance Taylor <iant@google.com> wrote:
>>>> The master Go math library uses assembler code on 386 processors to take
>>>> advantage of 387 instructions. ÂThis patch lets gccgo do the same thing,
>>>> by compiling the math library with -funsafe-math-optimizations. ÂI also
>>>> pass -mfancy-math-387, although that is the default. ÂIt would not be
>>>> appropriate to compile all Go code with -funsafe-math-optimizations, of
>>>> course, but the math library is designed to handle it.
>>>
>>> Huh ... I'd rather not do that if I were you. ÂInstead I'd say we lack a
>>> machine specific flag to enable the fancy-x87-math patterns which
>>> then -funsafe-math-optimizations should enable. ÂThe x87 math
>>> routines are the only thing you are after, right? ÂNo math-library
>>> can be _safe_ against -funsafe-math-optimizations I believe.
>>
>> Yes, that approach would make sense, but this doesn't seem like the
>> right time to do it.
>>
>> The -funsafe-math-optimizations option does not permit arbitrary
>> behaviour. ÂIt merely permits a set of optimizations which violate
>> strict IEEE conformance. ÂI believe the Go math library can be safe in
>> the presence of those optimizations, because the library does explicit
>> checks for NaN and infinity, where necessary, before it does the actual
>> operation. ÂThe math library has a fairly extensive set of tests,
>> including tests of exceptional conditions, and it passes the tests when
>> using -funsafe-math-optimizations. ÂNote that I'm only using
>> -funsafe-math-optimizations on x86.
>
> I see.  -funsafe-math-optimizations affects precision though (it doesn't
> assume NaNs or Infinities do not happen), see the docs - it enables
> -fno-signed-zeros, -fno-trapping-math, -fassociative-math and -freciprocal-math.


Affecting precision is OK for the Go math library, since the master
version of the library is written to use the 80-bit 80387 registers on
386, in order to use the magic 80387 instructions.

Ian


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