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Intel ® Fortran Compiler 10.1, Professional and Standard Editions, for Mac OS* X |        |
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The Intel Fortran Compiler for Mac OS* X delivers rapid development and winning performance for the full range of Intel® processor-based platforms. Automatically optimize and parallelize software to take best advantage of multi-core Intel processors, including dual-core mobile, desktop, and enterprise platforms. Overview of Mac* and Multi-Core Capabilities The following features specifically address the architecture capabilities of the new Intel®-based Macs. Each is explained briefly here, with a link to a fuller description.
Performance Intel Fortran Compiler Professional Edition lets you choose the tools that get most out of multi-core processors by combining the Fortran compiler and its built-in optimization, threading and security capabilities with a highly optimized math library that simplifies the introduction of robust, scalable, multi-threaded math functions.  Overview of Advanced Optimization Features Mac hardware based on Intel processors can also benefit from advanced optimization features, a few of which are explained briefly here, with links to fuller descriptions.
The Intel Fortran Compiler for Mac OS X builds on a winning foundation. Position yourself to create next-generation software, for next-generation hardware.The following features are new since version 9 of the compiler.
This section gives detailed descriptions of the compiler’s advanced optimization features. Multi-Threaded Application Support OpenMP and auto-parallelization help convert serial applications into parallel applications, allowing you to take full advantage of multi-core technology like the Intel® Core™ Duo processor and Dual-Core Intel Itanium 2 processor, as well as symmetric multi-processing systems:
High Performance, Parallel Optimizer (HPO) This revolutionary capability, new in version 10, combines automatic vectorization, automatic parallelization and loop transformations into a single pass which is faster, more effective and more reliable than prior discrete phases. HPO optimizes and restructures program loops to ensure that auto-parallelization, OpenMP and auto-vectorization occur smoothly in conjunction with each other. HPO’s optimization technology utilizes a unique cost-benefit analysis to make the right optimization decisions for the given program and loop structure. It will perform many transformations such as loop unrolling, peeling, interchange, splitting, etc., as well as other optimizations to ensure the processor’s cache architecture, SIMD instruction set, and multiple cores are well utilized. These loop transformation are done automatically so that manual code changes are not required. Automatic Vectorizer Vectorization automatically parallelizes code to maximize underlying processor capabilities. This advanced optimization analyzes loops and determines when it is safe and effective to execute several iterations of the loop in parallel by utilizing MMX™, SSE, SSE2, and SSE3 instructions. Figure 1 is a graphical representation of a vectorized loop that shows four iterations computed with one SSE2 operation. Use vectorization to optimize your application code and take advantage of these new extensions when running on Intel processors. Features include support for advanced, dynamic data alignment strategies, including loop peeling to generate aligned loads and loop unrolling to match the prefetch of a full cache line.  Figure 1. The Vectorizer in action. Interprocedural Optimization (IPO) Interprocedural Optimization (IPO) can dramatically improve application performance in programs that contain many small- or medium-sized functions that are frequently used, especially for programs that contain calls within loops. This set of techniques, which can be enabled for automatic operation in the Intel Compilers, uses multiple files or whole programs to detect and perform optimizations, rather than focusing within individual functions.  Figure 2. The interprocedural optimization process. The IPO process, shown in Figure 2, first requires that source files are compiled with the IPO option, creating object (.o) files that contain the intermediate language (IL) used by the compiler. Upon linking, the compiler combines all of the IL information and analyzes it for optimization opportunities. Typical optimizations made as part of the IPO process include procedure inlining and re-ordering, eliminating dead (unreachable) code, and constant propagation, or the substitution of known values for constants. IPO enables more aggressive optimization than what is available at the intra-procedural level, since the added context of multiple procedures makes those more-aggressive optimizations safe. The analysis capabilities of IPO can also give feedback on vulnerabilities and coding errors, such as uninitialized variables, which cannot be detected as well by compilers which rely strictly on analysis by a compiler front-end. Profile-guided Optimization (PGO) The Profile-guided optimization (PGO) compilation process enables the Intel Fortran compiler to take better advantage of the processor microarchitecture, more effectively use instruction paging and cache memory, and make better branch predictions. It improves application performance by reorganizing code layout to reduce instruction-cache thrashing, shrinking code size and reducing branch mispredictions. PGO is a three-stage process, as shown in Figure 3. Those steps include 1) a compile of the application with instrumentation added, 2) a profile-generation phase, where the application is executed and monitored, and 3) a recompile where the data collected during the first run aids optimization. A description of several code size influencing profile-guided optimizations follows:
Optimized Code Debugging with the Intel Debugger The Intel Debugger enables optimized code debugging (i.e., debugging code that has been significantly transformed for optimal execution on a specific hardware architecture). The Intel Compilers produce standards-compliant debug information for optimized code debugging that is available to all debuggers that support Intel Compilers. The Intel Debugger supports multi-core architectures by enabling debugging of multi-threaded applications, providing the following related capabilities:
The recently enhanced GNU Project Debugger (GDB debugger) can also be used for parallel applications. For additional information, please refer to the Intel Debugger Technical White Paper [PDF 211KB]. Back to top
Mac and Multi-Core Capabilities in Depth This section gives detailed descriptions about the features described at a high level in the section above called "Overview of Mac and Multi-Core Capabilities." Xcode Integration The Intel Fortran Compilers, Standard and Professional Editions, for Mac OS X are compatible with Xcode, enabling developers to work with popular IDE while also taking advantage of advanced optimization features from Intel. 
Generate C/Fortran Universal Binaries from the Xcode environment using the Intel Fortran Compilers for Intel architectures and GCC for PowerPC*, retaining compatibility with GCC 4.0. Universal Binaries are designed to ease the transition between PowerPC and Intel architecture by combining native code for both architectures in a single compiled package.High-level code that contains no processor dependencies requires few if any changes to create a universal binary. Lower-level code that contains hardware dependencies presents a greater challenge. Support for Apple Frameworks 
Apple frameworks are a special type of bundle used to distribute shared resources, including library code, resource files, header files, and reference documentation. They offer flexibility that is often preferable to using dynamic shared libraries.For more information on Apple frameworks, please visit Apple’s website. Standards Compliance and Broad Compatibility The Intel Fortran Compiler fully supports the Fortran 95 language standard, as well as the previous standards Fortran 90, Fortran 77 and Fortran IV. It also includes many features from the Fortran 2003 language standard, as well as numerous popular language extensions. Significant supported language extensions include:
For a complete list of language features, see the product documentation. The Intel Fortran Compiler also enhances programmer productivity with features such as:
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With the purchase of Intel Fortran Compiler, you will receive one year of technical support and product updates from Intel® Premier Support, our interactive issue management and communication web site. This premium support service allows you to submit questions, download product updates, and access technical notes, application notes, and other documentation. For more information, visit the Intel® Registration Center.
Host System
Note: Advanced optimization options or very large programs may require additional resources such as memory and disk space. Back to top | |
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