gcc for MIPS, 3.4.4 or 4.3.2?

Question

We've made a number of changes to gcc 3.3.2 (for MIPS) to support the vagaries of an embedded system we're working on. gcc 3.4 and later appear to have substantially improved the MIPS code generation, so I'm planning to port our changes forward. The question is which gcc version should I target: 3.4.4 or straight to 4.3.2? Its a substantial amount of work to port the changes, I don't want to do it twice and pick the better result.

The Linux-MIPS project still recommends gcc 3.4.4, and MIPS Technologies maintains a modified SDE toolchain based on gcc 3.4.4. Though my embedded system is not running Linux, I respect their expertise.

From what I've read the MIPS backend does not benefit from the higher level optimizations in 4.x, and actually produces slower code than 3.4.4. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Answer 1

I haven't used MIPS since the classroom so I can't directly answer your question.

I would suggest sending an e-mail to someone on the Linux-MIPS project, and ask when they plan to upgrade. Assuming it is not soon. It looks like 3.4.4 is a worthy upgrade.