[Haskell-cafe] GHC: Policy on -O flags?

[Matthew Pickering]

`-O2` is not a very rationally considered flag from what I understand.
It only enables `-fspec-constr` and `-fliberate-case`. The later also
triggers another simplification pass.

`-fspec-constr` is quite limited as it only works in the definition
module. I have never trusted it to optimise my code.

I have seen `-fliberate-case` achieve something but more often the
improvement comes from the extra simplification pass.

Therefore I wouldn't try to read the tea leaves too closely. There are
probably flags in `-O` which affect compile time more but have less
benefit.

Matt


On Tue, Aug 27, 2019 at 5:13 PM Brandon Allbery <allbery.b at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I think at first you just give it a -f flag, and let experience determine whether it should be part of -O or -O2.
>
> On Tue, Aug 27, 2019 at 12:10 PM Andreas Klebinger <klebinger.andreas at gmx.at> wrote:
>>
>> Hello ghc-devs and haskell users.
>>
>> I'm looking for opinions on when an optimization should be enabled by
>> default.
>>
>> -O is currently the base line for an optimized build.
>> -O2 adds around 10-20% compile time for a few % (around 2% if I remember
>> correctly) in performance for most things.
>>
>> The question is now if I implement a new optimization, making code R%
>> faster but slowing
>> down the compiler down by C% at which point should an optimization be:
>>
>> * Enabled by default (-O)
>> * Enabled only at -O2
>> * Disabled by default
>>
>> Cheap always beneficial things make sense for -O
>> Expensive optimizations which add little make sense for -O2
>>
>> But where exactly is the line here?
>> How much compile time is runtime worth?
>>
>> If something slows down the compiler by 1%/2%/5%
>> and speeds up code by 0.5%/1%/2% which combinations make sense
>> for -O, -O2?
>>
>> Can there even be a good policy with the -O/-O2 split?
>>
>> Personally I generally want code to either:
>> * Typecheck/Run at all (-O0, -fno-code, repl)
>> * Not blow through all my RAM when adding a few Ints while developing: -O ?
>> * Make a reasonable tradeoff between runtime/compiletime: -O ?
>> * Give me all you got: -O2 (-O99999)
>>
>> The use case for -O0 is rather clear, so is -O2.
>> But what do people consider the use case for -O
>>
>> What trade offs seem acceptable to you as a user of GHC?
>>
>> Is it ok for -O to become slower for faster runtimes? How much slower?
>> Should all new improvements which might slow down compilation
>> be pushed to -O2?
>>
>> Or does an ideal solution add new flags?
>> Tell me what do you think.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Andreas Klebinger
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> brandon s allbery kf8nh
> allbery.b at gmail.com
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