GSoC: Interest in taking the `-ftime-trace` project

GSoC: Interest in taking the `-ftime-trace` project

[Kristiyan Stoimenov]

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Hello,

I would like to ask whether I could be part of the upcoming GSoC. I have
been wanting to contribute to the project for some time now and I think
that this would be a nice opportunity for that.

I have looked into the different starter projects that are offered in the
[Wiki GSoC page](https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/SummerOfCode) and I was
particularly interested in the `-ftime-trace` project. The following is
what is given as a short description about the problematic:
"Implement something similar to Clang's -ftime-trace feature which
generates performance reports that show where the compiler spends compile
time. For more information, please check the following blog post. There's
also an existing bugzilla entry for this (if this becomes a GSoC project,
the assignee will of course change). Required skills include C/C++ and
finding a way through a large code-base."

I am looking forward to your response.

Best regards,
Kristiyan

Re: GSoC: Interest in taking the `-ftime-trace` project

[David Malcolm]

On Wed, 2023-02-08 at 10:57 +0200, Kristiyan Stoimenov via Gcc wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I would like to ask whether I could be part of the upcoming GSoC. I
> have
> been wanting to contribute to the project for some time now and I
> think
> that this would be a nice opportunity for that.
> 
> I have looked into the different starter projects that are offered in
> the
> [Wiki GSoC page](https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/SummerOfCode) and I was
> particularly interested in the `-ftime-trace` project. The following
> is
> what is given as a short description about the problematic:
> "Implement something similar to Clang's -ftime-trace feature which
> generates performance reports that show where the compiler spends
> compile
> time. For more information, please check the following blog post.
> There's
> also an existing bugzilla entry for this (if this becomes a GSoC
> project,
> the assignee will of course change). Required skills include C/C++
> and
> finding a way through a large code-base."
> 
> I am looking forward to your response.

Hi Kristiyan

Thanks for your interest in the project, and welcome!

I've been hoping someone would implement -ftime-trace, so I'm keen to
see this project go ahead.   I could potentially be a mentor for this
project (though I might be busy mentoring static analyzer projects, so
if anyone else wants to step forward, that would be good).

Note that Google hasn't yet formally announced which organizations will
be part of GSoC 2023, which happens on February 22nd:
  https://developers.google.com/open-source/gsoc/timeline

You might want to try building GCC from source and trying your hand at
hacking in a simple "hello world" print statement or similar.  See
e.g.:
  https://gcc-newbies-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html
for a guide on getting started with that.

Hope this is helpful, and welcome again
Dave

Re: GSoC: Interest in taking the `-ftime-trace` project

[Martin Jambor]

Hello Kristiyan,

On Wed, Feb 08 2023, Kristiyan Stoimenov via Gcc wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I would like to ask whether I could be part of the upcoming GSoC. I have
> been wanting to contribute to the project for some time now and I think
> that this would be a nice opportunity for that.
>
> I have looked into the different starter projects that are offered in the
> [Wiki GSoC page](https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/SummerOfCode) and I was
> particularly interested in the `-ftime-trace` project.

In case you have not noticed, there was a message to this mailing list a
week ago ( https://gcc.gnu.org/pipermail/gcc/2023-February/240756.html )
about a basic implementation of this in a plug-in located at

  https://github.com/royjacobson/externis

This may help you with thinking about the task and writing your
proposal.  Of course, the resulting project would have to be not a
plugin and aim to give users more insight into the compilation process
to be successful.  But it may be a useful starting point.

Apart from that, all David's advice was of course very good (but
meanwhile we got accepted as a mentoring Org).  

Good luck!

Martin

Re: GSoC: Interest in taking the `-ftime-trace` project

[Martin Jambor]

Hello Kristiyan,

sorry for a late reply, I'm struggling with email recently.

On Sun, Mar 12 2023, Kristiyan Stoimenov wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Thanks very much for your advice. They were very helpful to me.
>
> I have written a draft about the application and I would like to share it
> with you in order to get any ideas for improving it.

I assume the proposal is for a 175 hour (medium-sized) project?

I would really like to see an expected time-line of the project.  It is
expected that it will change substantially, but I want to know that
applicants understand what mile-stones there are in their project and
that they have a rough idea what the first steps are going to be.

Applicants which cannot plan much more for their first week beyond
"familiarizing with the project" often turn up not to have the technical
skills to make much progress, let alone successfully complete a project.

I understand that means that I am asking you to do a chunk of what you
expect to be the most difficult bit of work - figuring GCC out - now,
but unfortunately there is no way around it.  I hope the existing
plug-in would help you and definitely feel free to keep asking any
questions you may have about GCC.

Sorry if the above sounds harsh, I definitely do not want to put you
off, but it is important.  GSoC application selection can be competitive
and for many reasons we want to be 100% sure that we task our mentors
only with guiding capable students.

Good luck!

Martin


>
> Thanks in advance for your feedback.
>
> Best regards,
> Kristiyan
>
> On Wed, 1 Mar 2023 at 20:57, Martin Jambor <mjambor@suse.cz> wrote:
>
>> Hello Kristiyan,
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 08 2023, Kristiyan Stoimenov via Gcc wrote:
>> > Hello,
>> >
>> > I would like to ask whether I could be part of the upcoming GSoC. I have
>> > been wanting to contribute to the project for some time now and I think
>> > that this would be a nice opportunity for that.
>> >
>> > I have looked into the different starter projects that are offered in the
>> > [Wiki GSoC page](https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/SummerOfCode) and I was
>> > particularly interested in the `-ftime-trace` project.
>>
>> In case you have not noticed, there was a message to this mailing list a
>> week ago ( https://gcc.gnu.org/pipermail/gcc/2023-February/240756.html )
>> about a basic implementation of this in a plug-in located at
>>
>>   https://github.com/royjacobson/externis
>>
>> This may help you with thinking about the task and writing your
>> proposal.  Of course, the resulting project would have to be not a
>> plugin and aim to give users more insight into the compilation process
>> to be successful.  But it may be a useful starting point.
>>
>> Apart from that, all David's advice was of course very good (but
>> meanwhile we got accepted as a mentoring Org).
>>
>> Good luck!
>>
>> Martin
>>
>>