IBM XL C/C++ Compilers

XL C/C++ Compilers
Developer(s) IBM
Stable release
13.1.5 (Linux on Power for little-endian distributions) / December 2016 (Linux on Power)
Operating system Cross-platform: Linux (POWER and z architectures), AIX, Blue Gene/Q, z/OS, and z/VM
Available in Multilingual
Type Software development
License Proprietary
Website www-03.ibm.com/software/products/en/ccompfami

XL C/C++ is the name of IBM's proprietary optimizing C/C++ compiler for IBM-supported environments.

The IBM XL compilers are built from modularized components consisting of front ends (for different programming languages), a platform agnostic high level optimizer, and platform-specific low-level optimizers/code generators to target specific hardware and operating systems. The XL C/C++ compilers target POWER, BlueGene/Q, and z Systems hardware architectures.

A common high level optimizer across the POWER and z/OS XL C/C++[1] compilers optimizes the source program using platform-agnostic optimizations such as inter-procedural analysis, profile-directed feedback, and loop and vector optimizations.

A low-level optimizer on each platform performs function-level optimizations, and generates optimized code for a specific operating system and hardware platform.

The particular optimizations performed for any given compilation depend upon the optimization level chosen under option control (O2 to O5) along with any other optimization-related options, such as those for interprocedural analysis or loop optimizations.

A 60-day installable evaluation version is available for download for the AIX,[2] Linux on Power,[3] and Linux on z[4] compilers. In June 2016, IBM introduced XL C/C++ for Linux Community Edition which is free of charge. It can be downloaded.[5]

The XL compilers on AIX have delivered leadership scores in the SPEC CPU2000 and CPU2006 benchmarks, in combination with specific IBM POWER system processor announcements, for example SPEC CPU2006 Floating Point[6] score of 71.5 in May 2010 and [7] score of 4051 in August 2006.

Current (2016) versions of the XL C/C++ compilers support a subset of the C++03 standard on AIX; while XL C/C++ for Linux (Power) v13.1.3 supports C++11.

The XL C/C++ compiler for Linux on Power little endian edition, released in December 2014, is based on the open source Clang front end (part of the Clang/LLVM open source project) and therefore provides a higher level of language and GCC compatibility than IBM C/C++ compilers on other platforms, although that support is a subset of what Clang/LLVM itself supports.

The z/OS XL C/C++ compiler exploits the latest z/Architecture®, including the latest IBM z13® servers. It enables development of high-performing business applications and system programs on z/OS, while maximizing hardware use and improving application performance. IBM z/OS XL C/C++ uses services provided by the z/OS Language Environment® and Runtime Library Extensions base elements. It supports embedded CICS® and SQL statements in C/C++ source, which simplifies the operation of C/C++ within CICS and DB2® environments. It works in concert with IBM Application Delivery Foundation for z Systems® family of products.

Products

The XL C/C++ compiler family consists of the following products, with most recent version and release dates where known:

See also

References

  1. ↑ z/OS XL C/C++
  2. ↑ XL C/C++ for AIX
  3. ↑ XL C/C++ for Linux on Power
  4. ↑ XL C/C++ for Linux on z
  5. ↑ link
  6. ↑ CPU2006 Floating Point
  7. ↑ SPEC CPU2000 Floating Point


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