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<a name="Code-Gen-Options"></a>
<div class="header">
<p>
Next: <a href="Developer-Options.html#Developer-Options" accesskey="n" rel="next">Developer Options</a>, Previous: <a href="Directory-Options.html#Directory-Options" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Directory Options</a>, Up: <a href="Invoking-GCC.html#Invoking-GCC" accesskey="u" rel="up">Invoking GCC</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Option-Index.html#Option-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
</div>
<hr>
<a name="Options-for-Code-Generation-Conventions"></a>
<h3 class="section">3.17 Options for Code Generation Conventions</h3>
<a name="index-code-generation-conventions"></a>
<a name="index-options_002c-code-generation"></a>
<a name="index-run_002dtime-options"></a>

<p>These machine-independent options control the interface conventions
used in code generation.
</p>
<p>Most of them have both positive and negative forms; the negative form
of <samp>-ffoo</samp> is <samp>-fno-foo</samp>.  In the table below, only
one of the forms is listed&mdash;the one that is not the default.  You
can figure out the other form by either removing &lsquo;<samp>no-</samp>&rsquo; or adding
it.
</p>
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>-fstack-reuse=<var>reuse-level</var></code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fstack_005freuse"></a>
<p>This option controls stack space reuse for user declared local/auto variables
and compiler generated temporaries.  <var>reuse_level</var> can be &lsquo;<samp>all</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>named_vars</samp>&rsquo;, or &lsquo;<samp>none</samp>&rsquo;. &lsquo;<samp>all</samp>&rsquo; enables stack reuse for all
local variables and temporaries, &lsquo;<samp>named_vars</samp>&rsquo; enables the reuse only for
user defined local variables with names, and &lsquo;<samp>none</samp>&rsquo; disables stack reuse
completely. The default value is &lsquo;<samp>all</samp>&rsquo;. The option is needed when the
program extends the lifetime of a scoped local variable or a compiler generated
temporary beyond the end point defined by the language.  When a lifetime of
a variable ends, and if the variable lives in memory, the optimizing compiler
has the freedom to reuse its stack space with other temporaries or scoped
local variables whose live range does not overlap with it. Legacy code extending
local lifetime is likely to break with the stack reuse optimization.
</p>
<p>For example,
</p>
<div class="smallexample">
<pre class="smallexample">   int *p;
   {
     int local1;

     p = &amp;local1;
     local1 = 10;
     ....
   }
   {
      int local2;
      local2 = 20;
      ...
   }

   if (*p == 10)  // out of scope use of local1
     {

     }
</pre></div>

<p>Another example:
</p><div class="smallexample">
<pre class="smallexample">

   struct A
   {
       A(int k) : i(k), j(k) { }
       int i;
       int j;
   };

   A *ap;

   void foo(const A&amp; ar)
   {
      ap = &amp;ar;
   }

   void bar()
   {
      foo(A(10)); // temp object's lifetime ends when foo returns

      {
        A a(20);
        ....
      }
      ap-&gt;i+= 10;  // ap references out of scope temp whose space
                   // is reused with a. What is the value of ap-&gt;i?
   }

</pre></div>

<p>The lifetime of a compiler generated temporary is well defined by the C++
standard. When a lifetime of a temporary ends, and if the temporary lives
in memory, the optimizing compiler has the freedom to reuse its stack
space with other temporaries or scoped local variables whose live range
does not overlap with it. However some of the legacy code relies on
the behavior of older compilers in which temporaries&rsquo; stack space is
not reused, the aggressive stack reuse can lead to runtime errors. This
option is used to control the temporary stack reuse optimization.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-ftrapv</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-ftrapv"></a>
<p>This option generates traps for signed overflow on addition, subtraction,
multiplication operations.
The options <samp>-ftrapv</samp> and <samp>-fwrapv</samp> override each other, so using
<samp>-ftrapv</samp> <samp>-fwrapv</samp> on the command-line results in
<samp>-fwrapv</samp> being effective.  Note that only active options override, so
using <samp>-ftrapv</samp> <samp>-fwrapv</samp> <samp>-fno-wrapv</samp> on the command-line
results in <samp>-ftrapv</samp> being effective.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fwrapv</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fwrapv"></a>
<p>This option instructs the compiler to assume that signed arithmetic
overflow of addition, subtraction and multiplication wraps around
using twos-complement representation.  This flag enables some optimizations
and disables others.
The options <samp>-ftrapv</samp> and <samp>-fwrapv</samp> override each other, so using
<samp>-ftrapv</samp> <samp>-fwrapv</samp> on the command-line results in
<samp>-fwrapv</samp> being effective.  Note that only active options override, so
using <samp>-ftrapv</samp> <samp>-fwrapv</samp> <samp>-fno-wrapv</samp> on the command-line
results in <samp>-ftrapv</samp> being effective.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fwrapv-pointer</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fwrapv_002dpointer"></a>
<p>This option instructs the compiler to assume that pointer arithmetic
overflow on addition and subtraction wraps around using twos-complement
representation.  This flag disables some optimizations which assume
pointer overflow is invalid.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fstrict-overflow</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fstrict_002doverflow"></a>
<p>This option implies <samp>-fno-wrapv</samp> <samp>-fno-wrapv-pointer</samp> and when
negated implies <samp>-fwrapv</samp> <samp>-fwrapv-pointer</samp>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fexceptions</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fexceptions"></a>
<p>Enable exception handling.  Generates extra code needed to propagate
exceptions.  For some targets, this implies GCC generates frame
unwind information for all functions, which can produce significant data
size overhead, although it does not affect execution.  If you do not
specify this option, GCC enables it by default for languages like
C++ that normally require exception handling, and disables it for
languages like C that do not normally require it.  However, you may need
to enable this option when compiling C code that needs to interoperate
properly with exception handlers written in C++.  You may also wish to
disable this option if you are compiling older C++ programs that don&rsquo;t
use exception handling.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fnon-call-exceptions</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fnon_002dcall_002dexceptions"></a>
<p>Generate code that allows trapping instructions to throw exceptions.
Note that this requires platform-specific runtime support that does
not exist everywhere.  Moreover, it only allows <em>trapping</em>
instructions to throw exceptions, i.e. memory references or floating-point
instructions.  It does not allow exceptions to be thrown from
arbitrary signal handlers such as <code>SIGALRM</code>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fdelete-dead-exceptions</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fdelete_002ddead_002dexceptions"></a>
<p>Consider that instructions that may throw exceptions but don&rsquo;t otherwise
contribute to the execution of the program can be optimized away.
This option is enabled by default for the Ada front end, as permitted by
the Ada language specification.
Optimization passes that cause dead exceptions to be removed are enabled independently at different optimization levels.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-funwind-tables</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-funwind_002dtables"></a>
<p>Similar to <samp>-fexceptions</samp>, except that it just generates any needed
static data, but does not affect the generated code in any other way.
You normally do not need to enable this option; instead, a language processor
that needs this handling enables it on your behalf.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fasynchronous-unwind-tables</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fasynchronous_002dunwind_002dtables"></a>
<p>Generate unwind table in DWARF format, if supported by target machine.  The
table is exact at each instruction boundary, so it can be used for stack
unwinding from asynchronous events (such as debugger or garbage collector).
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fno-gnu-unique</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fno_002dgnu_002dunique"></a>
<a name="index-fgnu_002dunique"></a>
<p>On systems with recent GNU assembler and C library, the C++ compiler
uses the <code>STB_GNU_UNIQUE</code> binding to make sure that definitions
of template static data members and static local variables in inline
functions are unique even in the presence of <code>RTLD_LOCAL</code>; this
is necessary to avoid problems with a library used by two different
<code>RTLD_LOCAL</code> plugins depending on a definition in one of them and
therefore disagreeing with the other one about the binding of the
symbol.  But this causes <code>dlclose</code> to be ignored for affected
DSOs; if your program relies on reinitialization of a DSO via
<code>dlclose</code> and <code>dlopen</code>, you can use
<samp>-fno-gnu-unique</samp>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fpcc-struct-return</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fpcc_002dstruct_002dreturn"></a>
<p>Return &ldquo;short&rdquo; <code>struct</code> and <code>union</code> values in memory like
longer ones, rather than in registers.  This convention is less
efficient, but it has the advantage of allowing intercallability between
GCC-compiled files and files compiled with other compilers, particularly
the Portable C Compiler (pcc).
</p>
<p>The precise convention for returning structures in memory depends
on the target configuration macros.
</p>
<p>Short structures and unions are those whose size and alignment match
that of some integer type.
</p>
<p><strong>Warning:</strong> code compiled with the <samp>-fpcc-struct-return</samp>
switch is not binary compatible with code compiled with the
<samp>-freg-struct-return</samp> switch.
Use it to conform to a non-default application binary interface.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-freg-struct-return</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-freg_002dstruct_002dreturn"></a>
<p>Return <code>struct</code> and <code>union</code> values in registers when possible.
This is more efficient for small structures than
<samp>-fpcc-struct-return</samp>.
</p>
<p>If you specify neither <samp>-fpcc-struct-return</samp> nor
<samp>-freg-struct-return</samp>, GCC defaults to whichever convention is
standard for the target.  If there is no standard convention, GCC
defaults to <samp>-fpcc-struct-return</samp>, except on targets where GCC is
the principal compiler.  In those cases, we can choose the standard, and
we chose the more efficient register return alternative.
</p>
<p><strong>Warning:</strong> code compiled with the <samp>-freg-struct-return</samp>
switch is not binary compatible with code compiled with the
<samp>-fpcc-struct-return</samp> switch.
Use it to conform to a non-default application binary interface.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fshort-enums</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fshort_002denums"></a>
<p>Allocate to an <code>enum</code> type only as many bytes as it needs for the
declared range of possible values.  Specifically, the <code>enum</code> type
is equivalent to the smallest integer type that has enough room.
</p>
<p><strong>Warning:</strong> the <samp>-fshort-enums</samp> switch causes GCC to generate
code that is not binary compatible with code generated without that switch.
Use it to conform to a non-default application binary interface.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fshort-wchar</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fshort_002dwchar"></a>
<p>Override the underlying type for <code>wchar_t</code> to be <code>short
unsigned int</code> instead of the default for the target.  This option is
useful for building programs to run under WINE.
</p>
<p><strong>Warning:</strong> the <samp>-fshort-wchar</samp> switch causes GCC to generate
code that is not binary compatible with code generated without that switch.
Use it to conform to a non-default application binary interface.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fcommon</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fcommon"></a>
<a name="index-fno_002dcommon"></a>
<a name="index-tentative-definitions"></a>
<p>In C code, this option controls the placement of global variables
defined without an initializer, known as <em>tentative definitions</em>
in the C standard.  Tentative definitions are distinct from declarations
of a variable with the <code>extern</code> keyword, which do not allocate storage.
</p>
<p>The default is <samp>-fno-common</samp>, which specifies that the compiler places
uninitialized global variables in the BSS section of the object file.
This inhibits the merging of tentative definitions by the linker so you get a
multiple-definition error if the same variable is accidentally defined in more
than one compilation unit.
</p>
<p>The <samp>-fcommon</samp> places uninitialized global variables in a common block.
This allows the linker to resolve all tentative definitions of the same variable
in different compilation units to the same object, or to a non-tentative
definition.  This behavior is inconsistent with C++, and on many targets implies
a speed and code size penalty on global variable references.  It is mainly
useful to enable legacy code to link without errors.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fno-ident</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fno_002dident"></a>
<a name="index-fident"></a>
<p>Ignore the <code>#ident</code> directive.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-finhibit-size-directive</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-finhibit_002dsize_002ddirective"></a>
<p>Don&rsquo;t output a <code>.size</code> assembler directive, or anything else that
would cause trouble if the function is split in the middle, and the
two halves are placed at locations far apart in memory.  This option is
used when compiling <samp>crtstuff.c</samp>; you should not need to use it
for anything else.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fverbose-asm</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fverbose_002dasm"></a>
<p>Put extra commentary information in the generated assembly code to
make it more readable.  This option is generally only of use to those
who actually need to read the generated assembly code (perhaps while
debugging the compiler itself).
</p>
<p><samp>-fno-verbose-asm</samp>, the default, causes the
extra information to be omitted and is useful when comparing two assembler
files.
</p>
<p>The added comments include:
</p>
<ul>
<li> information on the compiler version and command-line options,

</li><li> the source code lines associated with the assembly instructions,
in the form FILENAME:LINENUMBER:CONTENT OF LINE,

</li><li> hints on which high-level expressions correspond to
the various assembly instruction operands.

</li></ul>

<p>For example, given this C source file:
</p>
<div class="smallexample">
<pre class="smallexample">int test (int n)
{
  int i;
  int total = 0;

  for (i = 0; i &lt; n; i++)
    total += i * i;

  return total;
}
</pre></div>

<p>compiling to (x86_64) assembly via <samp>-S</samp> and emitting the result
direct to stdout via <samp>-o</samp> <samp>-</samp>
</p>
<div class="smallexample">
<pre class="smallexample">gcc -S test.c -fverbose-asm -Os -o -
</pre></div>

<p>gives output similar to this:
</p>
<div class="smallexample">
<pre class="smallexample">	.file	&quot;test.c&quot;
# GNU C11 (GCC) version 7.0.0 20160809 (experimental) (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
  [...snip...]
# options passed:
  [...snip...]

	.text
	.globl	test
	.type	test, @function
test:
.LFB0:
	.cfi_startproc
# test.c:4:   int total = 0;
	xorl	%eax, %eax	# &lt;retval&gt;
# test.c:6:   for (i = 0; i &lt; n; i++)
	xorl	%edx, %edx	# i
.L2:
# test.c:6:   for (i = 0; i &lt; n; i++)
	cmpl	%edi, %edx	# n, i
	jge	.L5	#,
# test.c:7:     total += i * i;
	movl	%edx, %ecx	# i, tmp92
	imull	%edx, %ecx	# i, tmp92
# test.c:6:   for (i = 0; i &lt; n; i++)
	incl	%edx	# i
# test.c:7:     total += i * i;
	addl	%ecx, %eax	# tmp92, &lt;retval&gt;
	jmp	.L2	#
.L5:
# test.c:10: }
	ret
	.cfi_endproc
.LFE0:
	.size	test, .-test
	.ident	&quot;GCC: (GNU) 7.0.0 20160809 (experimental)&quot;
	.section	.note.GNU-stack,&quot;&quot;,@progbits
</pre></div>

<p>The comments are intended for humans rather than machines and hence the
precise format of the comments is subject to change.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-frecord-gcc-switches</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-frecord_002dgcc_002dswitches"></a>
<p>This switch causes the command line used to invoke the
compiler to be recorded into the object file that is being created.
This switch is only implemented on some targets and the exact format
of the recording is target and binary file format dependent, but it
usually takes the form of a section containing ASCII text.  This
switch is related to the <samp>-fverbose-asm</samp> switch, but that
switch only records information in the assembler output file as
comments, so it never reaches the object file.
See also <samp>-grecord-gcc-switches</samp> for another
way of storing compiler options into the object file.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fpic</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fpic"></a>
<a name="index-global-offset-table"></a>
<a name="index-PIC"></a>
<p>Generate position-independent code (PIC) suitable for use in a shared
library, if supported for the target machine.  Such code accesses all
constant addresses through a global offset table (GOT).  The dynamic
loader resolves the GOT entries when the program starts (the dynamic
loader is not part of GCC; it is part of the operating system).  If
the GOT size for the linked executable exceeds a machine-specific
maximum size, you get an error message from the linker indicating that
<samp>-fpic</samp> does not work; in that case, recompile with <samp>-fPIC</samp>
instead.  (These maximums are 8k on the SPARC, 28k on AArch64 and 32k
on the m68k and RS/6000.  The x86 has no such limit.)
</p>
<p>Position-independent code requires special support, and therefore works
only on certain machines.  For the x86, GCC supports PIC for System V
but not for the Sun 386i.  Code generated for the IBM RS/6000 is always
position-independent.
</p>
<p>When this flag is set, the macros <code>__pic__</code> and <code>__PIC__</code>
are defined to 1.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fPIC</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fPIC"></a>
<p>If supported for the target machine, emit position-independent code,
suitable for dynamic linking and avoiding any limit on the size of the
global offset table.  This option makes a difference on AArch64, m68k,
PowerPC and SPARC.
</p>
<p>Position-independent code requires special support, and therefore works
only on certain machines.
</p>
<p>When this flag is set, the macros <code>__pic__</code> and <code>__PIC__</code>
are defined to 2.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fpie</code></dt>
<dt><code>-fPIE</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fpie"></a>
<a name="index-fPIE"></a>
<p>These options are similar to <samp>-fpic</samp> and <samp>-fPIC</samp>, but the
generated position-independent code can be only linked into executables.
Usually these options are used to compile code that will be linked using
the <samp>-pie</samp> GCC option.
</p>
<p><samp>-fpie</samp> and <samp>-fPIE</samp> both define the macros
<code>__pie__</code> and <code>__PIE__</code>.  The macros have the value 1
for <samp>-fpie</samp> and 2 for <samp>-fPIE</samp>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fno-plt</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fno_002dplt"></a>
<a name="index-fplt"></a>
<p>Do not use the PLT for external function calls in position-independent code.
Instead, load the callee address at call sites from the GOT and branch to it.
This leads to more efficient code by eliminating PLT stubs and exposing
GOT loads to optimizations.  On architectures such as 32-bit x86 where
PLT stubs expect the GOT pointer in a specific register, this gives more
register allocation freedom to the compiler.
Lazy binding requires use of the PLT; 
with <samp>-fno-plt</samp> all external symbols are resolved at load time.
</p>
<p>Alternatively, the function attribute <code>noplt</code> can be used to avoid calls
through the PLT for specific external functions.
</p>
<p>In position-dependent code, a few targets also convert calls to
functions that are marked to not use the PLT to use the GOT instead.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fno-jump-tables</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fno_002djump_002dtables"></a>
<a name="index-fjump_002dtables"></a>
<p>Do not use jump tables for switch statements even where it would be
more efficient than other code generation strategies.  This option is
of use in conjunction with <samp>-fpic</samp> or <samp>-fPIC</samp> for
building code that forms part of a dynamic linker and cannot
reference the address of a jump table.  On some targets, jump tables
do not require a GOT and this option is not needed.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-ffixed-<var>reg</var></code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-ffixed"></a>
<p>Treat the register named <var>reg</var> as a fixed register; generated code
should never refer to it (except perhaps as a stack pointer, frame
pointer or in some other fixed role).
</p>
<p><var>reg</var> must be the name of a register.  The register names accepted
are machine-specific and are defined in the <code>REGISTER_NAMES</code>
macro in the machine description macro file.
</p>
<p>This flag does not have a negative form, because it specifies a
three-way choice.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fcall-used-<var>reg</var></code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fcall_002dused"></a>
<p>Treat the register named <var>reg</var> as an allocable register that is
clobbered by function calls.  It may be allocated for temporaries or
variables that do not live across a call.  Functions compiled this way
do not save and restore the register <var>reg</var>.
</p>
<p>It is an error to use this flag with the frame pointer or stack pointer.
Use of this flag for other registers that have fixed pervasive roles in
the machine&rsquo;s execution model produces disastrous results.
</p>
<p>This flag does not have a negative form, because it specifies a
three-way choice.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fcall-saved-<var>reg</var></code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fcall_002dsaved"></a>
<p>Treat the register named <var>reg</var> as an allocable register saved by
functions.  It may be allocated even for temporaries or variables that
live across a call.  Functions compiled this way save and restore
the register <var>reg</var> if they use it.
</p>
<p>It is an error to use this flag with the frame pointer or stack pointer.
Use of this flag for other registers that have fixed pervasive roles in
the machine&rsquo;s execution model produces disastrous results.
</p>
<p>A different sort of disaster results from the use of this flag for
a register in which function values may be returned.
</p>
<p>This flag does not have a negative form, because it specifies a
three-way choice.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fpack-struct[=<var>n</var>]</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fpack_002dstruct"></a>
<p>Without a value specified, pack all structure members together without
holes.  When a value is specified (which must be a small power of two), pack
structure members according to this value, representing the maximum
alignment (that is, objects with default alignment requirements larger than
this are output potentially unaligned at the next fitting location.
</p>
<p><strong>Warning:</strong> the <samp>-fpack-struct</samp> switch causes GCC to generate
code that is not binary compatible with code generated without that switch.
Additionally, it makes the code suboptimal.
Use it to conform to a non-default application binary interface.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fleading-underscore</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fleading_002dunderscore"></a>
<p>This option and its counterpart, <samp>-fno-leading-underscore</samp>, forcibly
change the way C symbols are represented in the object file.  One use
is to help link with legacy assembly code.
</p>
<p><strong>Warning:</strong> the <samp>-fleading-underscore</samp> switch causes GCC to
generate code that is not binary compatible with code generated without that
switch.  Use it to conform to a non-default application binary interface.
Not all targets provide complete support for this switch.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-ftls-model=<var>model</var></code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-ftls_002dmodel"></a>
<p>Alter the thread-local storage model to be used (see <a href="Thread_002dLocal.html#Thread_002dLocal">Thread-Local</a>).
The <var>model</var> argument should be one of &lsquo;<samp>global-dynamic</samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp>local-dynamic</samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp>initial-exec</samp>&rsquo; or &lsquo;<samp>local-exec</samp>&rsquo;.
Note that the choice is subject to optimization: the compiler may use
a more efficient model for symbols not visible outside of the translation
unit, or if <samp>-fpic</samp> is not given on the command line.
</p>
<p>The default without <samp>-fpic</samp> is &lsquo;<samp>initial-exec</samp>&rsquo;; with
<samp>-fpic</samp> the default is &lsquo;<samp>global-dynamic</samp>&rsquo;.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-ftrampolines</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-ftrampolines"></a>
<p>For targets that normally need trampolines for nested functions, always
generate them instead of using descriptors.  Otherwise, for targets that
do not need them, like for example HP-PA or IA-64, do nothing.
</p>
<p>A trampoline is a small piece of code that is created at run time on the
stack when the address of a nested function is taken, and is used to call
the nested function indirectly.  Therefore, it requires the stack to be
made executable in order for the program to work properly.
</p>
<p><samp>-fno-trampolines</samp> is enabled by default on a language by language
basis to let the compiler avoid generating them, if it computes that this
is safe, and replace them with descriptors.  Descriptors are made up of data
only, but the generated code must be prepared to deal with them.  As of this
writing, <samp>-fno-trampolines</samp> is enabled by default only for Ada.
</p>
<p>Moreover, code compiled with <samp>-ftrampolines</samp> and code compiled with
<samp>-fno-trampolines</samp> are not binary compatible if nested functions are
present.  This option must therefore be used on a program-wide basis and be
manipulated with extreme care.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fvisibility=<span class="roman">[</span>default<span class="roman">|</span>internal<span class="roman">|</span>hidden<span class="roman">|</span>protected<span class="roman">]</span></code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fvisibility"></a>
<p>Set the default ELF image symbol visibility to the specified option&mdash;all
symbols are marked with this unless overridden within the code.
Using this feature can very substantially improve linking and
load times of shared object libraries, produce more optimized
code, provide near-perfect API export and prevent symbol clashes.
It is <strong>strongly</strong> recommended that you use this in any shared objects
you distribute.
</p>
<p>Despite the nomenclature, &lsquo;<samp>default</samp>&rsquo; always means public; i.e.,
available to be linked against from outside the shared object.
&lsquo;<samp>protected</samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp>internal</samp>&rsquo; are pretty useless in real-world
usage so the only other commonly used option is &lsquo;<samp>hidden</samp>&rsquo;.
The default if <samp>-fvisibility</samp> isn&rsquo;t specified is
&lsquo;<samp>default</samp>&rsquo;, i.e., make every symbol public.
</p>
<p>A good explanation of the benefits offered by ensuring ELF
symbols have the correct visibility is given by &ldquo;How To Write
Shared Libraries&rdquo; by Ulrich Drepper (which can be found at
<a href="https://www.akkadia.org/drepper/">https://www.akkadia.org/drepper/</a><!-- /@w -->)&mdash;however a superior
solution made possible by this option to marking things hidden when
the default is public is to make the default hidden and mark things
public.  This is the norm with DLLs on Windows and with <samp>-fvisibility=hidden</samp>
and <code>__attribute__ ((visibility(&quot;default&quot;)))</code> instead of
<code>__declspec(dllexport)</code> you get almost identical semantics with
identical syntax.  This is a great boon to those working with
cross-platform projects.
</p>
<p>For those adding visibility support to existing code, you may find
<code>#pragma GCC visibility</code> of use.  This works by you enclosing
the declarations you wish to set visibility for with (for example)
<code>#pragma GCC visibility push(hidden)</code> and
<code>#pragma GCC visibility pop</code>.
Bear in mind that symbol visibility should be viewed <strong>as
part of the API interface contract</strong> and thus all new code should
always specify visibility when it is not the default; i.e., declarations
only for use within the local DSO should <strong>always</strong> be marked explicitly
as hidden as so to avoid PLT indirection overheads&mdash;making this
abundantly clear also aids readability and self-documentation of the code.
Note that due to ISO C++ specification requirements, <code>operator new</code> and
<code>operator delete</code> must always be of default visibility.
</p>
<p>Be aware that headers from outside your project, in particular system
headers and headers from any other library you use, may not be
expecting to be compiled with visibility other than the default.  You
may need to explicitly say <code>#pragma GCC visibility push(default)</code>
before including any such headers.
</p>
<p><code>extern</code> declarations are not affected by <samp>-fvisibility</samp>, so
a lot of code can be recompiled with <samp>-fvisibility=hidden</samp> with
no modifications.  However, this means that calls to <code>extern</code>
functions with no explicit visibility use the PLT, so it is more
effective to use <code>__attribute ((visibility))</code> and/or
<code>#pragma GCC visibility</code> to tell the compiler which <code>extern</code>
declarations should be treated as hidden.
</p>
<p>Note that <samp>-fvisibility</samp> does affect C++ vague linkage
entities. This means that, for instance, an exception class that is
be thrown between DSOs must be explicitly marked with default
visibility so that the &lsquo;<samp>type_info</samp>&rsquo; nodes are unified between
the DSOs.
</p>
<p>An overview of these techniques, their benefits and how to use them
is at <a href="http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/Visibility">http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/Visibility</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fstrict-volatile-bitfields</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fstrict_002dvolatile_002dbitfields"></a>
<p>This option should be used if accesses to volatile bit-fields (or other
structure fields, although the compiler usually honors those types
anyway) should use a single access of the width of the
field&rsquo;s type, aligned to a natural alignment if possible.  For
example, targets with memory-mapped peripheral registers might require
all such accesses to be 16 bits wide; with this flag you can
declare all peripheral bit-fields as <code>unsigned short</code> (assuming short
is 16 bits on these targets) to force GCC to use 16-bit accesses
instead of, perhaps, a more efficient 32-bit access.
</p>
<p>If this option is disabled, the compiler uses the most efficient
instruction.  In the previous example, that might be a 32-bit load
instruction, even though that accesses bytes that do not contain
any portion of the bit-field, or memory-mapped registers unrelated to
the one being updated.
</p>
<p>In some cases, such as when the <code>packed</code> attribute is applied to a 
structure field, it may not be possible to access the field with a single
read or write that is correctly aligned for the target machine.  In this
case GCC falls back to generating multiple accesses rather than code that 
will fault or truncate the result at run time.
</p>
<p>Note:  Due to restrictions of the C/C++11 memory model, write accesses are
not allowed to touch non bit-field members.  It is therefore recommended
to define all bits of the field&rsquo;s type as bit-field members.
</p>
<p>The default value of this option is determined by the application binary
interface for the target processor.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>-fsync-libcalls</code></dt>
<dd><a name="index-fsync_002dlibcalls"></a>
<p>This option controls whether any out-of-line instance of the <code>__sync</code>
family of functions may be used to implement the C++11 <code>__atomic</code>
family of functions.
</p>
<p>The default value of this option is enabled, thus the only useful form
of the option is <samp>-fno-sync-libcalls</samp>.  This option is used in
the implementation of the <samp>libatomic</samp> runtime library.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>

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