Consider the following function:
std::string get_value(const bool b)
{
if (b) {
return "Hello";
}
else {
return "World";
}
}
g++ 11.0.1 20210312 compiles this (as C++17 and with maximum optimization) into:
get_value[abi:cxx11](bool):
lea rdx, [rdi+16]
mov rax, rdi
mov QWORD PTR [rdi], rdx
test sil, sil
je .L2
mov DWORD PTR [rdi+16], 1819043144
mov BYTE PTR [rdx+4], 111
mov QWORD PTR [rax+8], 5
mov BYTE PTR [rax+21], 0
ret
.L2:
mov DWORD PTR [rdi+16], 1819438935
mov BYTE PTR [rdx+4], 100
mov QWORD PTR [rax+8], 5
mov BYTE PTR [rax+21], 0
ret
Why does it not move the two replicated mov instructions up before the jump, or even before the test, reducing the code size by two instructions?
The same thing happens with clang++ and libc++, except it only has one relevant instruction to move up.
(See this also on GodBolt)