Re: Question About GPU-Powered Parallel Compilation in GCC
Hi Richard, Thank you so much for the reply! You're absolutely right about using CPU threads. I’m just really curious about whether GPU acceleration could somehow be explored for compilation, even if it’s not traditionally well-suited. I know it might not be practical, but I wanted to understand *why* it’s considered inefficient and learn through experimentation. I’m still a student and just starting to explore compilers more seriously, so any resources you could recommend to help me learn — especially from the basics — would be incredibly helpful. Thanks again for taking the time to respond! On Mon, 12 May 2025 at 18:51, Richard Biener wrote: > On Mon, May 12, 2025 at 2:55 PM Nikhil Patil via Gcc > wrote: > > > > Hi GCC Team, > > > > I'm fairly new to the world of compilers and trying to understand how > they > > work in more depth. Recently, I started exploring the idea of > *parallelizing > > the internal steps of compilation* — such as parsing, code generation, > and > > optimization — instead of the usual serial approach, and potentially > > leveraging *GPU acceleration* (like CUDA) for this. > > > > I was wondering if this concept has been explored in GCC, or if there are > > any existing resources, discussions, or directions I could look into? > > > > Apologies if this isn’t the right channel — I’m still getting familiar > with > > the community and couldn’t find another communication method. Please let > me > > know if there’s a better place to ask such questions. > > There were two Google Summer of Code projects exploring parallel > compilation using CPU threads. I don't think using a GPU is a good tool > for any of the sub-problems a compiler solves. On the high-level GCC > allows more efficient parallel compilation of multiple source file projects > when using LTO. > > Richard. > > > Best regards, > > *Nikhil Patil* >
Re: Question About GPU-Powered Parallel Compilation in GCC
On Mon, May 12, 2025 at 2:55 PM Nikhil Patil via Gcc wrote: > > Hi GCC Team, > > I'm fairly new to the world of compilers and trying to understand how they > work in more depth. Recently, I started exploring the idea of *parallelizing > the internal steps of compilation* — such as parsing, code generation, and > optimization — instead of the usual serial approach, and potentially > leveraging *GPU acceleration* (like CUDA) for this. > > I was wondering if this concept has been explored in GCC, or if there are > any existing resources, discussions, or directions I could look into? > > Apologies if this isn’t the right channel — I’m still getting familiar with > the community and couldn’t find another communication method. Please let me > know if there’s a better place to ask such questions. There were two Google Summer of Code projects exploring parallel compilation using CPU threads. I don't think using a GPU is a good tool for any of the sub-problems a compiler solves. On the high-level GCC allows more efficient parallel compilation of multiple source file projects when using LTO. Richard. > Best regards, > *Nikhil Patil*
Question About GPU-Powered Parallel Compilation in GCC
Hi GCC Team, I'm fairly new to the world of compilers and trying to understand how they work in more depth. Recently, I started exploring the idea of *parallelizing the internal steps of compilation* — such as parsing, code generation, and optimization — instead of the usual serial approach, and potentially leveraging *GPU acceleration* (like CUDA) for this. I was wondering if this concept has been explored in GCC, or if there are any existing resources, discussions, or directions I could look into? Apologies if this isn’t the right channel — I’m still getting familiar with the community and couldn’t find another communication method. Please let me know if there’s a better place to ask such questions. Best regards, *Nikhil Patil*
Re: Question About GPU-Powered Parallel Compilation in GCC
Hi Nikhil, While today's compilers are still largely very intricate code for Turing machines, this will certainly change during your career. It seems you'll be using GPUs for AI-assisted construction of optimal program graphs and immediately testing the performance of code fragments instead of relying on heuristics. The starting point for these technologies is polyhedral analysis - I recommend reading about it in addition to a classical compiler course. Kind regards, Dmitry. пн, 12 мая 2025 г. в 16:31, Nikhil Patil via Gcc : > Hi Richard, > > Thank you so much for the reply! > > You're absolutely right about using CPU threads. I’m just really curious > about whether GPU acceleration could somehow be explored for compilation, > even if it’s not traditionally well-suited. I know it might not be > practical, but I wanted to understand *why* it’s considered inefficient and > learn through experimentation. > > I’m still a student and just starting to explore compilers more seriously, > so any resources you could recommend to help me learn — especially from the > basics — would be incredibly helpful. > > Thanks again for taking the time to respond! > > > On Mon, 12 May 2025 at 18:51, Richard Biener > wrote: > > > On Mon, May 12, 2025 at 2:55 PM Nikhil Patil via Gcc > > wrote: > > > > > > Hi GCC Team, > > > > > > I'm fairly new to the world of compilers and trying to understand how > > they > > > work in more depth. Recently, I started exploring the idea of > > *parallelizing > > > the internal steps of compilation* — such as parsing, code generation, > > and > > > optimization — instead of the usual serial approach, and potentially > > > leveraging *GPU acceleration* (like CUDA) for this. > > > > > > I was wondering if this concept has been explored in GCC, or if there > are > > > any existing resources, discussions, or directions I could look into? > > > > > > Apologies if this isn’t the right channel — I’m still getting familiar > > with > > > the community and couldn’t find another communication method. Please > let > > me > > > know if there’s a better place to ask such questions. > > > > There were two Google Summer of Code projects exploring parallel > > compilation using CPU threads. I don't think using a GPU is a good tool > > for any of the sub-problems a compiler solves. On the high-level GCC > > allows more efficient parallel compilation of multiple source file > projects > > when using LTO. > > > > Richard. > > > > > Best regards, > > > *Nikhil Patil* > > >
