some remarks about gcc4.0

[Mark Mitchell]

tbp wrote:

>>So, we'll make an effort to fix problems
>>with IA32 SSE code generation that were not present in previous releases
>>-- but we'd probably not worry about shipping GCC 4.0 just because there
>>were missed optimizations that had also been missed in the past.
> 
> That's what i got and the reason why i worried.
> You have to admit that pre-4.0 gcc versions were not up to the job
> when dealing with SSE: lots of gotcha, poor performance etc (ie
> http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=14776 etc...)
> So i really doubt they make a valid standard to measure against.

It's not that we don't understand that SSE is important, or that 
previous versions of the compiler weren't great.  But, people work on 
what they (or their employers) want them to work on.  As the release 
manager, I'm not going to hold up release that provides a lot of benefit 
to lots of users because of any single pre-existing weakness.

-- 
Mark Mitchell
CodeSourcery, LLC
mark@codesourcery.com
(916) 791-8304