Here is a motivating example
void foo(int *A, int *B, int *N) {
for (int k = 0; k < *N; k++)
A[k] += B[k];
}
Compiler can't vectorize this loop because it assumes that A and N alias. Adding a restrict
to N enables vectorization. e.g., https://godbolt.org/z/joMrhEM8K
void foo(int *A, int *B, int *__restrict N) {
for (int k = 0; k < *N; k++)
A[k] += B[k];
}
generates
.LBB0_9:
ldp q0, q3, [x11, #-16]
subs x12, x12, #8
ldp q1, q2, [x10, #-16]
add x10, x10, #32
add v0.4s, v0.4s, v1.4s
add v1.4s, v3.4s, v2.4s
stp q0, q1, [x11, #-16]
add x11, x11, #32
b.ne .LBB0_9
Which is good. But I want to create a restrict
ed pointer out of N and not modify the function declaration. e.g., something like
void foo(int *A, int *B, int *N) {
int *__restrict p = N;
for (int k = 0; k < *p; k++)
A[k] += B[k];
}
But this doesn't work. Any way to achieve this?
The reason I'd like to achieve this is because then I can 'version' the code without adding __restrict in the declaration. like:
// Returns true if X, Y don't alias.
bool no_alias(int* X, int *Y);
void foo(int *A, int *B, int *N) {
if (no_alias(A,N)) { // assuming I have a way to figure out that A and N don't alias at runtime.
int *__restrict p = N;
for (int k = 0; k < *p; k++)
A[k] += B[k];
} else {
for (int k = 0; k < *p; k++)
A[k] += B[k];
}
}
Another option is to just get rid of the possibility by assigning the value to an intermediary.
void foo(int *A, int *B, int *N) {
if (no_alias(A, N)) {
const int n = *N;
for (int k = 0; k < n; k++)
A[k] += B[k];
}
else {
for (int k = 0; k < *N; k++)
A[k] += B[k];
}
}