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Matt Godbolt

Matt is a C++ programmer and occasional verb. He loves writing efficient code and sharing his passion about how computers work under the hood. An engineer at Coinbase, he has previously worked at a trading firm, on mobile apps at Google, run a C++ tools company and spent more than a decade making console games. When not tinkering on Compiler Explorer, Matt enjoys working on emulators for old 8-bit computer hardware.

Keynote: What Everyone Should Know About How Amazing Compilers Are

Tuesday 16:15
Keynote
Everyone

We use them every day, but how often do we stop to think about the kinds of amazing things our compilers do for us? Modern compilers are a feat of engineering and in this talk Matt will demonstrate just a few of the very cunning things they do for you.

Matt will concentrate on the output of the compiler: the tricks they use to generate efficient, optimized assembler code.

Writing clear, readable code that's also efficient hinges on being able to trust your compiler's code generator. By the end of this talk, you'll be be able to read assembly well enough to be able to appreciate your compiler, and have an understanding of what it can - and can't - optimize for you.