Well, this is really embarassing. I can't imagine why we would not set
at least -O on all platforms. Looking at the template files, I see
these have no optimization set:
darwin
Regarding Darwin optimizations, Apple has introduced a "-fast" flag in their GCC 3.3 version that they recommend when compiling code for their new G5 systems. Because of this, I foresee a lot of people defining CFLAGS="-fast" on their systems.
This is problematic for PostgreSQL, however, since the -fast flag is the equivalent of:
-O3 -falign-loops-max-skip=15 -falign-jumps-max-skip=15 -falign-loops=16 -falign-jumps=16 -falign-functions=16 -malign-natural -ffast-math -fstrict-aliasing -frelax-aliasing -fgcse-mem-alias -funroll-loops -floop-transpose -floop-to-memset -finline-floor -mcpu=G5 -mpowerpc64 -mpowerpc-gpopt -mtune=G5 -fsched-interblock -fload-after-store --param max-gcse-passes=3 -fno-gcse-sm -fgcse-loop-depth -funit-at-a-time -fcallgraph-inlining -fdisable-typechecking-for-spec
At least the --fast-math part causes problems, seeing that PostgreSQL actually checks for the __FAST_MATH__ macro to make sure that it isn't turned on. There might be other problems with Apple's flags, but I think that the __FAST_MATH__ check should be altered.
As you know, setting --fast-math in GCC is the equivalent of setting -fno-math-errno, -funsafe-math-optimizations, -fno-trapping-math, -ffinite-math-only and -fno-signaling-nans. What really should be done, I think, is adding the opposites of these flags (-fmath-errno, -fno-unsafe-math-optimizations, -ftrapping_math, -fno-finite-math-only and -fsignaling-nans) to the command line if __FAST_MATH__ is detected. This would allow people to use CFLAGS="-fast" on their G5s, beat some Xeon speed records, and not worry about esoteric IEEE math standards. What do you guys think?
GCC sets __FAST_MATH__ even if you counter a -ffast-math with the negating flags above. This means that it is not currently possible to use the -fast flag when compiling PostgreSQL at all. Instead, you have to go through all the flags Apple is setting and only pass on those that don't break pg.
mk
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