The Effect of Combining Compiler Optimizations on Code Size

Abstract

Lately, our embedded computing research group has been working on code generation targeting small footprint and low energy consumption. In specific, we've been researching the effect of optimizations on code size. Previously, we've concluded that evaluating single optimizations does not lead to interesting results. That's due to the fact that optimization efficiency towards reducing code size is greatly affected by the combinations of optimization techniques being used. Therefore, it is necessary to identify which optimization techniques are heavily related, in respect to code size reduction. In this paper, we present some experimental evaluation results that reveal relationships among optimization techniques that yield to small binaries.