Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc.

Hemant Kulkarni

Sergei Larin

Shankar Kalpathi Easwaran

Tobias Edler Von Koch

A method for optimizing source code comprises optimizing the source code of files from a computer program at link-time, and receiving, at a linker, a customized linker script defining output sections for files of an executable version of the files of the computer program. The method comprises adding, to intermediate representation files having global or local symbols, metadata comprising default section assignment information for the symbols and recording, for symbols in machine code files, an origin path and an output section. The method further comprises parsing, by the compiler, the intermediate representation files, recording the symbols and related symbol information comprising default section assignment and dependency information of the intermediate representation files, assigning output sections to the symbols based on the default section assignments and instructions from the customized linker script, and linking optimized code of the files of the computer program based on the assigned output sections.

Link time program optimization in presence of a linker script

A method for link time optimization comprises parsing, by a compiler, an intermediate representation file to determine what symbols are present in the intermediate representation file. The method comprises providing the symbols to a linker and creating, by the linker, a symbol use tree of all the symbols that are present in the intermediate representation file and other symbols in binary code received by the linker. The method further comprises discarding, by the linker, any received objects for which no use can be identified and all dependencies of the objects. The method includes providing, from the linker to the compiler, a preserve list of symbols, the preserve list comprising a list of symbols proven used by the objects and the intermediate representation files. The method comprises compiling the intermediate representation files and the objects based on the preserve list of symbols, and deleting, by the linker, any remaining unused objects.

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Cedar Park, TX, United States of America

Hemant Kulkarni