ia64 projects

[Janis Johnson]

Steve Christiansen and I recently joined IBM's Linux Technology Center,
where our assignment is to improve the code that gcc generates for the
Intel IA-64 architecture (yes, we get paid for it!).  We're interested
in the performance of Linux system software.

Steve and I are new to IA-64 and to gcc although we've both worked on
compilers for years, particularly for Sequent machines (ix86) running
DYNIX/ptx (sysv4).  Our first tasks are to identify what changes to gcc
would have the most impact on IA-64 performance and to learn our way
around gcc.

Is there an existing wish list of projects for IA-64 code generation
and/or optimization?  If there's not a formal list, are there
suggestions for what should be on such a list?  We could come up with
projects on our own, but if other people have already identified what
work should be done then we would prefer to work with them.  Is there
a separate forum for communication about IA-64 work in gcc?

For learning our way around gcc, we'd appreciate pointers to difficult
bugs that might provide a tour of the compiler.  If we don't get any
suggestions we'll just pick out some open bugs from the database.

Another task is identifying benchmarks that will show that we are indeed
improving the code.  Bench++ and the integer component of SPEC CPU2000
look worthwhile.  What other benchmarks are used by gcc developers?

Janis Johnson
IBM Linux Technology Center
(503) 578-5458
janis@us.ibm.com