Compiler doesn't optimize out no-op loop.
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- Rust
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Description
I tried this code:
#[unsafe(no_mangle)]
pub fn foo() -> u64 {
let mut a = 0u64;
for _ in 0..1024 {
a ^= 1;
}
a
}
I compiled it with -Copt-level=3 on godbolt, and got this assembly:
foo:
mov eax, 1024
.LBB0_1:
add eax, -32
jne .LBB0_1
xor eax, eax
ret
For some reason, the generated assembly counts from 1024 to 0 in a loop that does nothing. This seems wasteful.
Other operations that flip-flop between two states also have a similar effect. For example, a = -a;, or a = !a;.
Meta
Compiler version on godbolt:
rustc 1.90.0 (1159e78c4 2025-09-14)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: 1159e78c4747b02ef996e55082b704c09b970588
commit-date: 2025-09-14
host: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
release: 1.90.0
LLVM version: 20.1.8
Internal compiler ID: r1900
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Reproduce the Rust 1.90.0 example from the issue on Godbolt with -Copt-level=3, then compare the generated x86 assembly for the XOR, negation, and complement cases. Trace why the optimizer retains the loop; done means these no-op loop patterns no longer produce a runtime loop while preserving the shown function results.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- rust
- Domain
- compilers, performance
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100