Comments on: Parallel compilation from the command line https://codesynthesis.com/~boris/blog//2009/03/29/parallel-compilation-command-line/ Boris Kolpackov's blog about software Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:58:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Boris Kolpackov https://codesynthesis.com/~boris/blog//2009/03/29/parallel-compilation-command-line/#comment-641 Boris Kolpackov Sun, 19 Apr 2009 07:45:34 +0000 https://codesynthesis.com/~boris/blog//2009/03/29/parallel-compilation-command-line/#comment-641 There are two things that can be done in the compiler. The first is to make the compiler compile several translation units (i.e., input files) in parallel. This could be fairly easy to implement but it will amount to pretty much the same thing as what's already possible with GNU make. This is probably the reason it hasn't been done in GCC. The second is to make the compiler compile a single translation union in parallel, Now that will be very useful but I don't think it is easily achievable. The C/C++ compilation process is inherently sequential and it is not clear how to parallelize it. Perhaps the optimization part can be done in parallel. That is, have multiple threads work on various parts of the (intermediate) code. There are two things that can be done in the compiler. The first is to make the compiler compile several translation units (i.e., input files) in parallel. This could be fairly easy to implement but it will amount to pretty much the same thing as what’s already possible with GNU make. This is probably the reason it hasn’t been done in GCC.

The second is to make the compiler compile a single translation union in parallel, Now that will be very useful but I don’t think it is easily achievable. The C/C++ compilation process is inherently sequential and it is not clear how to parallelize it. Perhaps the optimization part can be done in parallel. That is, have multiple threads work on various parts of the (intermediate) code.

]]> By: Nadav Rotem https://codesynthesis.com/~boris/blog//2009/03/29/parallel-compilation-command-line/#comment-640 Nadav Rotem Sat, 18 Apr 2009 11:07:56 +0000 https://codesynthesis.com/~boris/blog//2009/03/29/parallel-compilation-command-line/#comment-640 The real solution would be to add parallel parsing/compiling support to GCC. I don't see a reason why this can't be done, except for the huge pile of legacy code. I think that the LLVM guys are working on implementing parallel compilation to separate modules. The real solution would be to add parallel parsing/compiling support to GCC. I don’t see a reason why this can’t be done, except for the huge pile of legacy code. I think that the LLVM guys are working on implementing parallel compilation to separate modules.

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