CakeML/cakeml

Reducing boxing and unboxing of Word64 values

Open

#454 opened on Feb 6, 2018

View on GitHub
 (1 comment) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Standard ML (98 forks)auto 404
enhancementhelp wantedhigh effort

Repository metrics

Stars
 (1,169 stars)
PR merge metrics
 (PR metrics pending)

Description

Magnus has proposed to eliminate the amount of boxing and unboxing of the Word64 values in the compiler.

It should be possible to reduce the amount of boxing and unboxing happening during compilation on the Word64 values. It would be probably best to do the decision about all the boxing just before forcing the 2-reg code in the Word lang. This would make it possible to eliminate all the unnecessary unboxed values. I think this would provide a better 2-reg code and elimination for WordLang in the end. Any thoughts on why it should probably happen elsewhere in the compiler?

Contributor guide

Research direction
Examine the current boxing/unboxing logic for Word64 values in the compiler's intermediate representations, specifically in WordLang and the 2 reg code generation. Trace the flow of Word64 values to identify unnecessary boxing and propose elimination points.
Tech stack
None
Domain
backend
Issue type
Refactor
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Mostly clear
Prerequisites
compilersML
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
25