[Python-Dev] opcode dispatch optimization

[Christian Heimes]

Antoine Pitrou wrote:
> I would like to mention that I've written a patch which enables "threaded
> interpretation" on the ceval loop with gcc (*). On my computer (an Athlon X2
> 3600+), it is good for a 15-20% speedup of the interpreter on pystone and
> pybench. I also had the opportunity to test it on a Core2-derived CPU, where it
> doesn't make a difference (I conjecture it's because Core2 CPUs have
> hardware-based indirect branch optimizations). It will make no difference if the
> interpreter is compiled with something else than gcc (I tested on Windows).

The patch makes use of a GCC feature where labels can be used as values:
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Labels-as-Values.html . I didn't know
about the feature and got confused by the unary && operator.

A happy new your to you all!

Christian