SIMD code won't produce `zip2.8h`, but `zip1.8h` works fine

Hey there,

I'm not sure if this is a compiler bug, or I'm holding it wrong. I can open a GitHub issue if needed.

This simple function:

/// A function which uses the `zip1.8h` ARM instruction to interleave the first halves of the *last* 4 elements of `a`
/// with the latter halves of the *last* 4 elements of `b`, to produce a new 8 element vector.
/// The *first* 4 elements of `a` and `b` are ignored.
@inline(never) // Just so we can see these instructions in isolation
func zip1_8h(_ a: SIMD8<UInt16>, _ b: SIMD8<UInt16>) -> SIMD8<UInt16> {
	return SIMD8<UInt16>(
		a[0], b[0],
		a[1], b[1],
		a[2], b[2],
		a[3], b[3]
	)
}

Compiles to a single zip1.8h instruciton on arm64, just as expected:

	zip1.8h	v0, v0, v1
	ret

It only zips together the "high" halves of the SIMD vectors. This counterpart does the exact same thing for the "low" halves of the same vectors:


/// A function which should the `zip2.8h` ARM instruction to interleave the first halves of the *first* 4 elements of `a`
/// with the latter halves of the *first* 4 elements of `b`, to produce a new 8 element vector.
/// The *last* 4 elements of `a` and `b` are ignored.
@inline(never) // Just so we can see these instructions in isolation
func zip2_8h(_ a: SIMD8<UInt16>, _ b: SIMD8<UInt16>) -> SIMD8<UInt16> {
	return SIMD8<UInt16>(
		a[4], b[4],
		a[5], b[5],
		a[6], b[6],
		a[7], b[7]
	)
}

It should get compiled to a zip2.8h, but for some reason we get 8 scalar mov.h instructions instead:

	dup.8h	v2, v0[4]
	mov.h	v2[1], v1[4]
	mov.h	v2[2], v0[5]
	mov.h	v2[3], v1[5]
	mov.h	v2[4], v0[6]
	mov.h	v2[5], v1[6]
	mov.h	v2[6], v0[7]
	mov.h	v2[7], v1[7]
	mov.16b	v0, v2
	ret

Any idea why this doesn't yield a zip2.8h, or how to investigate?

To narrow it down from being an LLVM bug, I wrote some C code to do the same thing, and compiled it with clang. Sure enough, we get zip1.8h and zip2.8h, just as expected.

zip_example.c
// Compiled with `clang -S zip_example.c -O2 -o -`

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <arm_neon.h>


void print_uint8x8(uint16x8_t v) {
    printf("(%x, %x, %x, %x, %x, %x, %x, %x)",
        v[0], v[1], v[2], v[3], v[4], v[5], v[6], v[7]);
}

__attribute__ ((noinline)) // Just so we can see these instructions in isolation
uint16x8_t zip1_8h(const uint16x8_t a, const uint16x8_t b) {
    //  .globl	_vzip1_u8_wrapper               ; -- Begin function zip1_8h
    //  .p2align	2
    //  _vzip1_u8_wrapper:                      ; @vzip1_u8_wrapper
    //  .cfi_startproc
    //  ; %bb.0:
    //  zip1.8h	v0, v0, v1
    //  ret
    //  .cfi_endproc
    //  ; -- End function
    return vzip1q_u16(a, b);
}

__attribute__ ((noinline)) // Just so we can see these instructions in isolation
uint16x8_t zip2_8h(const uint16x8_t a, const uint16x8_t b) {
    //  .globl	_vzip2_u8_wrapper               ; -- Begin function zip2_8h
    //  .p2align	2
    //  _vzip2_u8_wrapper:                      ; @vzip2_u8_wrapper
    //  .cfi_startproc
    //  ; %bb.0:
    //  zip2.8h	v0, v0, v1
    //  ret
    //  .cfi_endproc
    //  ; -- End function
    return vzip2q_u16(a, b);
}

int main() {
    // Input arrays
    uint16x8_t a = (uint16x8_t){0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 0xA, 0xC, 0xE};
    uint16x8_t b = (uint16x8_t){1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 0xB, 0xD, 0xF};
    
    uint16x8_t firstHalf = zip1_8h(a, b);
    uint16x8_t secondHalf = zip2_8h(a, b);
    
    printf("Zipped output:\n");
    print_uint8x8(firstHalf);
    printf(" ");
    print_uint8x8(secondHalf);
    printf("\n");

    return 0;
}

For reference, here's a minimal Swift comparison:

minimal_demo.swift
// Compiled with:
// - xcrun swiftc --target=arm64-apple-macos12 -emit-assembly -O ./minimal_demo.swift
// - xcrun swiftc --target=arm64-apple-macos12 -emit-sil -O ./minimal_demo.swift
// - xcrun swiftc --target=arm64-apple-macos12 -emit-ir -O ./minimal_demo.swift

/// A function which uses the `zip1.8h` ARM instruction to interleave the first halves of the *last* 4 elements of `a`
/// with the latter halves of the *last* 4 elements of `b`, to produce a new 8 element vector.
/// The *first* 4 elements of `a` and `b` are ignored.
@inline(never) // Just so we can see these instructions in isolation
func zip1_8h(_ a: SIMD8<UInt16>, _ b: SIMD8<UInt16>) -> SIMD8<UInt16> {
	// Disassembly of SIMDPlayground`zip1_8h(_:_:):
	//     0x100003edc <+0>: zip1.8h v0, v0, v1
	//     0x100003ee0 <+4>: ret
	return SIMD8<UInt16>(
		a[0], b[0],
		a[1], b[1],
		a[2], b[2],
		a[3], b[3]
	)
}

/// A function which should the `zip2.8h` ARM instruction to interleave the first halves of the *first* 4 elements of `a`
/// with the latter halves of the *first* 4 elements of `b`, to produce a new 8 element vector.
/// The *last* 4 elements of `a` and `b` are ignored.
@inline(never) // Just so we can see these instructions in isolation
func zip2_8h(_ a: SIMD8<UInt16>, _ b: SIMD8<UInt16>) -> SIMD8<UInt16> {
	// Disassembly of SIMDPlayground`zip2_8h(_:_:):
	//     0x100003ebc <+0>:  dup.8h v2, v0[4]
	//     0x100003ec0 <+4>:  mov.h  v2[1], v1[4]
	//     0x100003ec4 <+8>:  mov.h  v2[2], v0[5]
	//     0x100003ec8 <+12>: mov.h  v2[3], v1[5]
	//     0x100003ecc <+16>: mov.h  v2[4], v0[6]
	//     0x100003ed0 <+20>: mov.h  v2[5], v1[6]
	//     0x100003ed4 <+24>: mov.h  v2[6], v0[7]
	//     0x100003ed8 <+28>: mov.h  v2[7], v1[7]
	//     0x100003edc <+32>: mov.16b v0, v2
	//     0x100003ee0 <+36>: ret
	return SIMD8<UInt16>(
		a[4], b[4],
		a[5], b[5],
		a[6], b[6],
		a[7], b[7]
	)
}

let a = SIMD8<UInt16>(0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 0xA, 0xC, 0xE)
let b = SIMD8<UInt16>(1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 0xB, 0xD, 0xF)
//                    |   zip1.8h    |   zip2.8h   |

print(zip1_8h(a, b)) // Ignores 8...0xF
// SIMD8<UInt16>(0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

print(zip2_8h(a, b)) // Ignores 0...7
// SIMD8<UInt16>(8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
SIL
// zip1_8h(_:_:)
sil hidden [noinline] @$s12minimal_demo7zip1_8hys5SIMD8Vys6UInt16VGAG_AGtF : $@convention(thin) (SIMD8<UInt16>, SIMD8<UInt16>) -> SIMD8<UInt16> {
[global: ]
// %0 "a"                                         // users: %4, %2
// %1 "b"                                         // users: %8, %3
bb0(%0 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, %1 : $SIMD8<UInt16>):
  debug_value %0 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, let, name "a", argno 1 // id: %2
  debug_value %1 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, let, name "b", argno 2 // id: %3
  %4 = struct_extract %0 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, #SIMD8._storage // user: %5
  %5 = struct_extract %4 : $UInt16.SIMD8Storage, #UInt16.SIMD8Storage._value // users: %18, %15, %12, %7
  %6 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 0          // users: %21, %10, %7
  %7 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%5 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %6 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %21
  %8 = struct_extract %1 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, #SIMD8._storage // user: %9
  %9 = struct_extract %8 : $UInt16.SIMD8Storage, #UInt16.SIMD8Storage._value // users: %19, %16, %13, %10
  %10 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%9 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %6 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %22
  %11 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 1         // users: %22, %13, %12
  %12 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%5 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %11 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %23
  %13 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%9 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %11 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %24
  %14 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 2         // users: %23, %16, %15
  %15 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%5 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %14 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %26
  %16 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%9 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %14 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %28
  %17 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 3         // users: %24, %19, %18
  %18 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%5 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %17 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %30
  %19 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%9 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %17 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %32
  %20 = builtin "zeroInitializer"<Builtin.Vec8xInt16>() : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %21
  %21 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%20 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %7 : $Builtin.Int16, %6 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %22
  %22 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%21 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %10 : $Builtin.Int16, %11 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %23
  %23 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%22 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %12 : $Builtin.Int16, %14 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %24
  %24 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%23 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %13 : $Builtin.Int16, %17 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %26
  %25 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 4         // user: %26
  %26 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%24 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %15 : $Builtin.Int16, %25 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %28
  %27 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 5         // user: %28
  %28 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%26 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %16 : $Builtin.Int16, %27 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %30
  %29 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 6         // user: %30
  %30 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%28 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %18 : $Builtin.Int16, %29 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %32
  %31 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 7         // user: %32
  %32 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%30 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %19 : $Builtin.Int16, %31 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %33
  %33 = struct $UInt16.SIMD8Storage (%32 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16) // user: %34
  %34 = struct $SIMD8<UInt16> (%33 : $UInt16.SIMD8Storage) // user: %35
  return %34 : $SIMD8<UInt16>                     // id: %35
} // end sil function '$s12minimal_demo7zip1_8hys5SIMD8Vys6UInt16VGAG_AGtF'

// print(_:separator:terminator:)
sil @$ss5print_9separator10terminatoryypd_S2StF : $@convention(thin) (@guaranteed Array<Any>, @guaranteed String, @guaranteed String) -> ()

// zip2_8h(_:_:)
sil hidden [noinline] @$s12minimal_demo7zip2_8hys5SIMD8Vys6UInt16VGAG_AGtF : $@convention(thin) (SIMD8<UInt16>, SIMD8<UInt16>) -> SIMD8<UInt16> {
[global: ]
// %0 "a"                                         // users: %4, %2
// %1 "b"                                         // users: %8, %3
bb0(%0 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, %1 : $SIMD8<UInt16>):
  debug_value %0 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, let, name "a", argno 1 // id: %2
  debug_value %1 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, let, name "b", argno 2 // id: %3
  %4 = struct_extract %0 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, #SIMD8._storage // user: %5
  %5 = struct_extract %4 : $UInt16.SIMD8Storage, #UInt16.SIMD8Storage._value // users: %18, %15, %12, %7
  %6 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 4          // users: %29, %10, %7
  %7 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%5 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %6 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %22
  %8 = struct_extract %1 : $SIMD8<UInt16>, #SIMD8._storage // user: %9
  %9 = struct_extract %8 : $UInt16.SIMD8Storage, #UInt16.SIMD8Storage._value // users: %19, %16, %13, %10
  %10 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%9 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %6 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %24
  %11 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 5         // users: %30, %13, %12
  %12 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%5 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %11 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %26
  %13 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%9 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %11 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %28
  %14 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 6         // users: %31, %16, %15
  %15 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%5 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %14 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %29
  %16 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%9 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %14 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %30
  %17 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 7         // users: %32, %19, %18
  %18 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%5 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %17 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %31
  %19 = builtin "extractelement_Vec8xInt16_Int32"(%9 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %17 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Int16 // user: %32
  %20 = builtin "zeroInitializer"<Builtin.Vec8xInt16>() : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %22
  %21 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 0         // user: %22
  %22 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%20 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %7 : $Builtin.Int16, %21 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %24
  %23 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 1         // user: %24
  %24 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%22 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %10 : $Builtin.Int16, %23 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %26
  %25 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 2         // user: %26
  %26 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%24 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %12 : $Builtin.Int16, %25 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %28
  %27 = integer_literal $Builtin.Int32, 3         // user: %28
  %28 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%26 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %13 : $Builtin.Int16, %27 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %29
  %29 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%28 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %15 : $Builtin.Int16, %6 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %30
  %30 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%29 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %16 : $Builtin.Int16, %11 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %31
  %31 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%30 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %18 : $Builtin.Int16, %14 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %32
  %32 = builtin "insertelement_Vec8xInt16_Int16_Int32"(%31 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16, %19 : $Builtin.Int16, %17 : $Builtin.Int32) : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16 // user: %33
  %33 = struct $UInt16.SIMD8Storage (%32 : $Builtin.Vec8xInt16) // user: %34
  %34 = struct $SIMD8<UInt16> (%33 : $UInt16.SIMD8Storage) // user: %35
  return %34 : $SIMD8<UInt16>                     // id: %35
} // end sil function '$s12minimal_demo7zip2_8hys5SIMD8Vys6UInt16VGAG_AGtF'
LLVM IR
; Function Attrs: mustprogress nofree noinline norecurse nosync nounwind willreturn memory(none)
define hidden swiftcc <8 x i16> @"$s12minimal_demo7zip1_8hys5SIMD8Vys6UInt16VGAG_AGtF"(<8 x i16> %0, <8 x i16> %1) local_unnamed_addr #4 {
entry:
  %2 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %0, <8 x i16> %1, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 8, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %3 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %2, <8 x i16> %0, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 9, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %4 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %3, <8 x i16> %1, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 9, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %5 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %4, <8 x i16> %0, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3, i32 10, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %6 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %5, <8 x i16> %1, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3, i32 4, i32 10, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %7 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %6, <8 x i16> %0, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3, i32 4, i32 5, i32 11, i32 poison>
  %8 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %7, <8 x i16> %1, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3, i32 4, i32 5, i32 6, i32 11>
  ret <8 x i16> %8
}

; Function Attrs: mustprogress nofree noinline norecurse nosync nounwind willreturn memory(none)
define hidden swiftcc <8 x i16> @"$s12minimal_demo7zip2_8hys5SIMD8Vys6UInt16VGAG_AGtF"(<8 x i16> %0, <8 x i16> %1) local_unnamed_addr #4 {
entry:
  %2 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %0, <8 x i16> poison, <8 x i32> <i32 4, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %3 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %2, <8 x i16> %1, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 12, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %4 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %3, <8 x i16> %0, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 13, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %5 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %4, <8 x i16> %1, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 13, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %6 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %5, <8 x i16> %0, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3, i32 14, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %7 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %6, <8 x i16> %1, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3, i32 4, i32 14, i32 poison, i32 poison>
  %8 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %7, <8 x i16> %0, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3, i32 4, i32 5, i32 15, i32 poison>
  %9 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %8, <8 x i16> %1, <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3, i32 4, i32 5, i32 6, i32 15>
  ret <8 x i16> %9
}

The LLVM IR might shed some light. The zip2_8h function has this extra variable, which doesn't have a counterpart in zip1_8h. I'm not sure what to make of it

  %2 = shufflevector <8 x i16> %0, <8 x i16> poison, <8 x i32> <i32 4, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison, i32 poison>
1 Like

i don't have an explanation to offer you, but having recently investigated some SIMD-related optimization behaviors that required interrogating different pipeline stages, you may find the discussion there of interest. additionally, there is some compiler documentation on bisecting compiler errors and debugging SIL which may be useful.

1 Like

Thanks for sharing that! After some research, I found out that the bug... isn't in silgen at all :D

Both functions produce pretty much equivalent SIL, just with some lines reordered.

I found that the issue is probably in IR gen, producing different LLVM IR for the two cases.

I've opened Interleaving SIMD code can be compiled to `zip1.8h` ARM instruction, but not `zip2.8h` · Issue #77484 · swiftlang/swift · GitHub to track this.

2 Likes

comparing the intermediate outputs for the function bodies with the LLVM IR optimization debugging options enabled[1], it seems that the 'InstCombinePass' is the point at which the extra shufflevector instruction is inserted in the zip2_8h IR. this appears to be part of the 'mem2reg' logic which is enabled by default in the LLVM 'pass manager' when compiling with an Os optimization level (which is what Swift seems to pass to LLVM in this case). indeed you can get the zip2.8h instruction to be produced by disabling the relevant LLVM optimizations from being run on the IR, in at least the following 2 ways:

# option 1 – disable all LLVM IR optimizations
swiftc -O \
  -Xfrontend -disable-llvm-optzns \
  -emit-assembly \
  <file> -o -

# option 2 – target the instcombine pass
swiftc -O \
  -Xllvm -instcombine-max-iterations=0 \
  -emit-assembly \
  <file> -o -

# outputs both contain something like:
# 
# _$s4main7zip2_8hys5SIMD8Vys6UInt16VGAG_AGtF:
#        zip2.8h v0, v0, v1
#        ret
# ...

though i'm unsure if these options offer a reasonable workaround for the issue given that they presumably could adversely impact other optimizations.

since the pre-LLVM-optimized IR is effectively the same for the 2 cases (other than the indices), it's not quite clear to me if this is a bug per-se or more of a surprising optimization miss/missing feature. perhaps this is what Steve was referring to in this PR description regarding generating other constant masks for the shufflevector instruction.

P.S. what tool did you use to generate the images in your bug report? the images are great.


  1. swiftc -O -Xllvm -print-after-all -emit-ir <file> ↩︎

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Hey Jamie, thanks for looking into this!

The exact series of events is a bit unclear to me. From what I understand:

  1. The generated SIL looks OK, so it's not an issue with the SILGen stage of the Swift compiler
  2. The LLVM IR looks OK if we disable the instcombine optimization of LLVM IR, which seems to point to LLVM being the issue

Given that, I don't quite understand the involvement of the Swift compiler here. Isn't it just an LLVM issue?

perhaps this is what Steve was referring to in this PR description regarding generating other constant masks for the shufflevector instruction.

I don't quite understand this PR, or the codepaths it pertains to. I see references to BuiltinValueKind::ShuffleVector that consume that enum value, but I don't understand where that enum value can originate from. I.e. what sets Builtin.ID to BuiltinValueKind::ShuffleVector?

P.S. what tool did you use to generate the images in your bug report? the images are great.

Believe it or not, they're just tables in Numbers! :smiley:

Just used the built in gradient cell fills, and resized and merged the cells as necessary to make it look clean.

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