Programming Tools

Compiling and Linking

AltiVec enabled programs can be developed in C by using any compiler following the AltiVec programming model, such as Project Builder / GCC and Metrowerks' CodeWarrior. In addition, assemblers such as PPCAsm and MacOS X's "as" assembler have been updated to support AltiVec assembly.

Downloading the Tools

A complete suite of tools and examples are available to download. Developers should first familiarize themselves with AltiVec by reading the Motorola's AltiVec Programming Environments Manual available from Motorola's AltiVec Technology Web site. Next, review the Programming Interface Manual, which gives a detailed description of the usage of the new instructions.

Project Builder and GCC are free with OS X. If your OS X install package does not include a developer tools CD or disk image, then you may download the developer tools package from the ADC software downloads area. GDB is AltiVec aware on MacOS X.

The CodeWarrior Tools can be obtained from Metrowerks' Macintosh Development Tools site.

FORTRAN compilers are described in the section entitled "Getting Started in Fortran."

Software optimization is, above all, an experimentally driven process. You need to measure application performance and invest your time wisely in areas with demonstrated performance shortcomings. To make this much easier for you, Apple has made available its Computer Hardware Understanding Development Kit (CHUD), a suite of powerful tools for quickly and accurately understanding where CPU cycles are spent.

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