[Liverpool] MFS Meeting. Tue, 18 Mar. Talk: "The GNU Compiler Collection: How to Use, Port and Upstream the World's Most Widely Used Tool Chain"

Wed Feb 26 19:43:06 UTC 2014

Please feel free to forward this to those that would welcome it.

* Event: Manchester Free Software's March Meeting
* Talk: The GNU Compiler Collection:
          How to Use, Port and Upstream the World's
          Most Widely Used Tool Chain
* Speaker: Dr Jeremy Bennett (Embecosm)
           (and Joern Rennecke (Embecosm) for Q&A)

* Date: Tuesday, 18th March 2014 (3rd Tuesday of the month)
* Start time: 19:00
* Finish time: 20:30 (and then on for drinks)

* Location: Madlab. (Manchester Digital Laboratory).
  - http://madlab.org.uk/
* Address: 36-40 Edge Street, Manchester. M4 1HN.
  - Opposite "Common" on Edge Street, Northern Quarter.
  - http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/53.48413/-2.23639

Details
-------
The purpose of Manchester Free Software is to promote the Free Software
philosophy.

This meeting will be a talk with Q&A.

"The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is 28 years old this year.
Originally a C compiler, it now handles many languages (8 in the
official distribution) and has been ported to many architectures (nearly
50 in the official distribution).  Alongside the compiler are low level
binary utilities (assembler, disassembler, linker, profiler, etc.) and a
source level debugger (GDB).  At 5 million lines of code, GCC is the
third largest program in any GNU/Linux system.

In this talk we'll look at how to best use the tool chain.  Starting
with official distributions, we'll look at what is needed to build your
own version from source code.  We'll then explore what it takes to
modify the tool chain, to port it to a new architecture, to test it, and
ultimately to have your code accepted into the official FSF distribution.

We'll also look at some of the more unusual uses of the tool chain.  Its
porting to new chips during the design phase to test the hardware design
before spinning silicon.  How approaches such as iterative compilation
and genetic algorithms can double performance compared to -O3.  And
finally how compilers can use machine learning to work out the best
optimizations for your program and even optimize for energy efficiency.

Throughout the talks we'll use practical examples from both native
compilers (for Intel and ARM) and for cross compilers (such as Atmel AVR
and Adapteva Epiphany).  We'll also demonstrate the low cost free
hardware energy measurement board used to optimize for energy efficiency."

Speakers
--------
"Dr Jeremy Bennett is Chief Executive of Embecosm, an free/libre and
open source software consultancy specializing in tool chain development
and silicon chip modelling.  A former academic he is author of
"Introduction to Compiling Techniques" (McGraw-Hill 1990, 1995, 2003).

Joern Rennecke, who leads GCC development for Embecosm, will take
questions at the end of the talk.  Joern is one of the leading
developers of GCC, a project to which he has been contributing for
nearly 20 years.  He has been responsible for the Renesas SH, OpenRISC
1000, Synopsys ARC ports and most recently has been developing the Atmel
AVR and Adapteva Epiphany implementations.

Embecosm are currently hiring both trainee and experienced compiler
developers.  Details at http://www.embecosm.com/careers/."

After-meeting
-------------
The meeting will be followed by informal discussion and socialising in
the bar opposite, Common <http://www.aplacecalledcommon.co.uk/>.  There
are soft drinks available and there is no pressure to consume alcohol.

Location
--------
The meeting will take place at the usual venue of Madlab, details above.
 Ring the bell beside the door to be let in.  The venue provides wifi.

Parking
-------
Around the venue there are parking meter bays that become zero cost
after 8pm on Tuesday so you will have to pay up until then and the
maximum stay is 2 hours BUT MAKE SURE YOU VERIFY ALL THIS on parking.

There are paid parking lots around the venue, they are marked by a blue
P in this OpenStreetMap centred on Madlab
<http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/53.4843/-2.2365>.  Most of those
parking lots are owned by NCP <http://www.ncp.co.uk/>.

If you can’t decide otherwise then park in Manchester Arndale
<http://www.manchesterarndale.com/directions.aspx>.

Public Transport
----------------
Manchester Victoria (MCV) train station, Shudehill tram and bus station,
and Manchester Piccadilly bus station are all fairly close to Madlab,see
OpenStreetMap centred on Madlab
<http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/53.4843/-2.2365>.

Manchester Piccadilly (MAN) train station and Manchester Central Coach
Station are not too far away either.

More Information
----------------
Information about Manchester Free Software can be found on the
Manchester Free Software pages on LibrePlanet
<http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Manchester>.

Regards,
Mike.

-- 
FSF member #9429
http://www.fsf.org/register_form?referrer=9429
http://www.fsf.org/about
"The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide
mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all
free software users."

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