GSoC 2021

GSoC 2021

[Dmitry Torilov]

Greetings,

I saw a task on your site for GSoC called <<Enable incremental Link Time
Optimization (LTO) linking>>. I am very interested in it, and I would
like to know if it is possible to do it this summer. I have experience
in C/C++ development as well as experience in related fields. I know how
to compile GCC, and I have a top-level understanding of how LTO works.
Unfortunately, I've never written compilers yet, but I've had experience
in developing a LISP interpreter, and I've also watched a lot of
conference talks about compilers. I am sending a link to my CV. I hope
that you will be interested in it. Can I ask you to tell me about the
further screening process for GSoC?

https://gitlab.com/torilov/cv/-/blob/master/eng.pdf

Thanks,
Dmitry Torilov

Re: GSoC 2021 (incremental LTO)

[Martin Jambor]

Hi Dmitry,

we are delighted you found contributing to GCC interesting.

On Mon, Mar 29 2021, Dmitry Torilov via Gcc wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I saw a task on your site for GSoC called <<Enable incremental Link Time
> Optimization (LTO) linking>>. I am very interested in it, and I would
> like to know if it is possible to do it this summer. I have experience
> in C/C++ development as well as experience in related fields. I know how
> to compile GCC, and I have a top-level understanding of how LTO works.
> Unfortunately, I've never written compilers yet, but I've had experience
> in developing a LISP interpreter, and I've also watched a lot of
> conference talks about compilers. I am sending a link to my CV. I hope
> that you will be interested in it. Can I ask you to tell me about the
> further screening process for GSoC?

there is no formal screening process and GCC does not impose any
additional formal requirements on top of those of the GSoC program,
except that we want students to announce their intention to apply so
that we can help them write a good proposal and in the process learn
about the project they apply for.

I have CCed Honza who would be the primary mentor for this project.
From what I know about the project, I can suggest (apart from the
suggestions at https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/SummerOfCode) the following.
Compile some small but non-trivial program with options -flto
-save-temps and -v (in addition to one you would normally use).  The
*ltrans* files the compiler will produce are the partitions, which are
currently all always compiled, even when a partition from an earlier
build would do.

The project should probably start with the driver (gcc/gcc.c) or perhaps
lto-wrapper (gcc/lto-wrapper.c) stashing the *ltrans[0-9]*.o caching the
files somewhere and then using the information about what is cached to
prevent unnecessary compilation of a partition which is identical to one
that has been compiled at some point in the past.  So at this point I
would suggest to study how exactly the driver, the lto-plugin
(lto-plugin/lto-plugin.c), lto-wrapper and lto1 (gcc/lto/*.c) interact
and where it would make sense to cache the partitions and retrieve them
from the cache.

Please do not hesitate to ask here on the mailing list if you struggle
with reading the code, if you want to find out if your understanding is
correct or need any help with any specific aspect of the project
proposal.

Good luck,

Martin

Re: GSoC 2021

[Martin Jambor]

Hello,

On Sat, Mar 20 2021, Mahmoud Shawky via Gcc wrote:
> Hello there
> I have chosen the project that i want to develop , and i don't know what is
> the next step ,

we are delighted that you found contributing to GCC interesting.  The
next step usually is to discuss your project here on the mailing list.
Often the community can help students come up with better scoped and
focused proposals.  So I would suggest you briefly introduce your
intended project here on the mailing list.

> is it okay to communicate with the project mentor in
> linkedin or how can i communicate with him .

That depends on the particular mentor, I cannot speak on behalf of all
of them.  But I think most would prefer a discussion over email, and
ideally on the gcc@gcc.gnu.org mailing list.

Good luck,

Martin

GSoC 2021

[Mahmoud Shawky]

Hello there
I have chosen the project that i want to develop , and i don't know what is
the next step , is it okay to communicate with the project mentor in
linkedin or how can i communicate with him .
That's my first time here
Thanks in advance