THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2014/2015
Archive for reference only
THIS PAGE IS OUT OF DATE

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Informatics : Informatics

Postgraduate Course: Compiler Optimisation (Level 11) (INFR11032)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Informatics CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis course introduces students to modern techniques in efficient implementation of programming languages. Modern processors and systems are designed based on the assumption that a compiler will be able to effectively exploit architectural resources. This course will examine in detail techniques to exploit instruction level parallelism, memory hierarchy and higher level parallelism. It will examine classic static analysis approaches to these problems and introduce newer feedback directed and dynamic approaches to optimisation. The course work will require students to implement selected optimisations in a research compiler and critically review literature in compiler optimisation.
Course description *Compiler Construction, phase order, compilation as optimisation
*Architecture costs: Parallelism and Latency in uni and multi-processors
*Architecture "independent" optimisation, dataflow analysis, lattices and fixed points
*Code generation, register allocation and scheduling in superscalar and vliw processors
*High level analysis based on dependence analysis. Intra and inter procedural analysis, whole program analysis.
*High level transformations including linear algebraic formalisation, unimodular transformations and space/time representation
*Automated parallelisation. shared and distributed memory models. Linear algebraic approach to parallelisation.
*Adaptive optimisation: Feedback directed optimisation, iterative compilation, program specialisation and dynamic compilation eg JIT, DBT
*Compiler infrastructure case studies: SUIF, Machine SUIF, JIKES
*Current themes:low power compilation, automatic compiler generation and machine learning.

Relevant QAA Computing Curriculum Sections: Compilers and Syntax Directed Tools
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements This course is open to all Informatics students including those on joint degrees. For external students where this course is not listed in your DPT, please seek special permission from the course organiser.

Maths background: Basic set theory, graph theory, statistics, linear algebra

Programming background: Proficient in an imperative programming language such as C. Some experience using a scripting language.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 20, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 76 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 75 %, Coursework 25 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) The coursework will consist of one practical compiler exercise where students will design and implement an optimisation and evaluate it on a set of benchmarks, writing a report on their work and findings.

You should expect to spend approximately 25 hours on the coursework for this course.

If delivered in semester 1, this course will have an option for semester 1 only visiting undergraduate students, providing assessment prior to the end of the calendar year.
Feedback Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:00
Learning Outcomes
1 - Understanding of inherent computational complexity of optimisation
2 - Development of optimizations via search based approaches
3 - Ability to parallelise programs via systematic algorithms
4 - Knowledge of dynamic and adaptive approaches to modern optimisation
Reading List
* A. Aho,R. Sethi, J.D.Ullman Compilers: Priciples, Techniques and Tools.
* S. Muchnick, Advanced Compiler Design and Implementation Morgan Kaufmann 1997
* R. Allen K. Kennedy Optimizing Compilers for Modern Architectures: A
* K. D. Cooper, L. Torczon Engineering a Compiler Morgan Kaufmann 2003
* A selection of conference and journal paper as appropriate
Additional Information
Course URL http://course.inf.ed.ac.uk/copt
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserMr Hugh Leather
Tel: (0131 6)50 2707
Email: hleather@inf.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Claire Edminson
Tel: (0131 6)51 4164
Email: C.Edminson@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information
 
© Copyright 2014 The University of Edinburgh - 12 January 2015 4:11 am