Question

When a function which take a pointer in argument is inlined, does the compiler remove the indirection during the optimization process ? Of course when it makes sense..

Here is an obvious example:

inline void say_hello (person* p) {
    std::cout << "hello " << p->name << std::endl;
}

int main () {
    person goldorak;
    goldorak.name = "Goldorak";

    say_hello(&goldorak);
    return 0;
}

This case is trivial but if the compiler does the optimization is there some cases in which it doesn’t ?

Bonus: where can I get a list of some “basic” optimizations made by my compiler ?

Ps: I’m just curious

Answer 1

I’m assuming GCC,
and so the link you are looking for is http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Optimize-Options.html

And to quote: (this may not be what you were getting at)

-findirect-inlining
Inline also indirect calls that are discovered to be known at
compile time thanks to previous inlining. This option has any effect
only when inlining itself is turned on by the -finline-functions or
-finline-small-functions options.

Enabled at level -O2.

The equivilent documentation for Visual Studio compilers (including C++)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/k1ack8f1.aspx
(you can follow the links for more info)