I've found a case where it appears that the optimizer has reordered some code surrounding the initialization of a local constant array, stomping on some of the elements after they have been loaded with the correct values. Here's a snippet of the source and resulting assembly that illustrates the problem (these are pulled from the complete source which is attached):
// C++ 586: { 587: const byte encrypted[] = { // from Eric Young's libdes 588: 0xf3,0x09,0x62,0x49,0xc7,0xf4,0x6e,0x51, 589: 0x35,0xf2,0x4a,0x24,0x2e,0xeb,0x3d,0x3f, 590: 0x3d,0x6d,0x5b,0xe3,0x25,0x5a,0xf8,0xc3}; ... } // ASM // // It appears that the local array "encrypted" is at offset 0xffffff08 from // %ebp. We dutifully load the first byte (0xf3) and then do some other stuff // apparently using that same location for scratch and then proceed with // the rest of the array initialization // 2cab: c6 85 08 ff ff ff f3 movb $0xf3,0xffffff08(%ebp) 2cb2: ba 08 00 00 00 mov $0x8,%edx 2cb7: b9 08 00 00 00 mov $0x8,%ecx 2cbc: 89 95 08 ff ff ff mov %edx,0xffffff08(%ebp) 2cc2: 31 c0 xor %eax,%eax 2cc4: 8d 55 b8 lea 0xffffffb8(%ebp),%edx 2cc7: 89 8d 28 ff ff ff mov %ecx,0xffffff28(%ebp) 2ccd: 8d 8d 30 ff ff ff lea 0xffffff30(%ebp),%ecx 2cd3: c6 85 09 ff ff ff 09 movb $0x9,0xffffff09(%ebp) 2cda: c6 85 0a ff ff ff 62 movb $0x62,0xffffff0a(%ebp) 2ce1: c6 85 0b ff ff ff 49 movb $0x49,0xffffff0b(%ebp) 2ce8: c6 85 0c ff ff ff c7 movb $0xc7,0xffffff0c(%ebp) 2cef: c6 85 0d ff ff ff f4 movb $0xf4,0xffffff0d(%ebp) 2cf6: c6 85 0e ff ff ff 6e movb $0x6e,0xffffff0e(%ebp) 2cfd: c6 85 0f ff ff ff 51 movb $0x51,0xffffff0f(%ebp) 2d04: c6 85 10 ff ff ff 35 movb $0x35,0xffffff10(%ebp) 2d0b: c6 85 11 ff ff ff f2 movb $0xf2,0xffffff11(%ebp) 2d12: c6 85 12 ff ff ff 4a movb $0x4a,0xffffff12(%ebp) 2d19: c6 85 13 ff ff ff 24 movb $0x24,0xffffff13(%ebp) 2d20: c6 85 14 ff ff ff 2e movb $0x2e,0xffffff14(%ebp) 2d27: c6 85 15 ff ff ff eb movb $0xeb,0xffffff15(%ebp) 2d2e: c6 85 16 ff ff ff 3d movb $0x3d,0xffffff16(%ebp) 2d35: c6 85 17 ff ff ff 3f movb $0x3f,0xffffff17(%ebp) 2d3c: c6 85 18 ff ff ff 3d movb $0x3d,0xffffff18(%ebp) 2d43: c6 85 19 ff ff ff 6d movb $0x6d,0xffffff19(%ebp) 2d4a: c6 85 1a ff ff ff 5b movb $0x5b,0xffffff1a(%ebp) 2d51: c6 85 1b ff ff ff e3 movb $0xe3,0xffffff1b(%ebp) 2d58: c6 85 1c ff ff ff 25 movb $0x25,0xffffff1c(%ebp) 2d5f: c6 85 1d ff ff ff 5a movb $0x5a,0xffffff1d(%ebp) 2d66: c6 85 1e ff ff ff f8 movb $0xf8,0xffffff1e(%ebp) 2d6d: c6 85 1f ff ff ff c3 movb $0xc3,0xffffff1f(%ebp) Here's the gcc -v output for the offending source file: /hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/g++ -v -save-temps -g -O3 -pipe -fno-strict-aliasing -ansi -pthread -fexceptions -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=199506L -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -gstabs+ -Wno-parentheses -Wcast-align -Wno-deprecated -Werror -DGLNX86 -DSIMULINK_V2 -DINTERNATIONALIZE=1 -I. -I../include -I../../include -c -o /tmp/validat1.o validat1.cpp g++: warning: -pipe ignored because -save-temps specified Reading specs from /mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/specs Configured with: /home/cnewbold/src/gnu/gcc-3.4.4/configure --enable-__cxa_atexit --prefix=/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4 Thread model: posix gcc version 3.4.4 /mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../libexec/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/cc1plus -E -quiet -v -I. -I../include -I../../include -iprefix /mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/ -D_GNU_SOURCE -D_REENTRANT -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=199506L -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -DGLNX86 -DSIMULINK_V2 -DINTERNATIONALIZE=1 validat1.cpp -mtune=pentiumpro -ansi -Wno-parentheses -Wcast-align -Wno-deprecated -Werror -fno-strict-aliasing -fexceptions -fworking-directory -O3 -o validat1.ii ignoring nonexistent directory "/mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/../../../../i686-pc-linux-gnu/include" ignoring duplicate directory "/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/../../../../include/c++/3.4.4" ignoring duplicate directory "/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/../../../../include/c++/3.4.4/i686-pc-linux-gnu" ignoring duplicate directory "/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/../../../../include/c++/3.4.4/backward" ignoring duplicate directory "/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/include" ignoring nonexistent directory "/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/../../../../i686-pc-linux-gnu/include" ignoring nonexistent directory "../include" ignoring nonexistent directory "../../include" #include "..." search starts here: #include <...> search starts here: . /mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/../../../../include/c++/3.4.4 /mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/../../../../include/c++/3.4.4/i686-pc-linux-gnu /mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/../../../../include/c++/3.4.4/backward /mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/include /usr/local/include /hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/include /usr/include End of search list. /mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../libexec/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/cc1plus -fpreprocessed validat1.ii -quiet -dumpbase validat1.cpp -mtune=pentiumpro -ansi -auxbase-strip /tmp/validat1.o -g -gstabs+ -O3 -Wno-parentheses -Wcast-align -Wno-deprecated -Werror -ansi -version -fno-strict-aliasing -fexceptions -o validat1.s GNU C++ version 3.4.4 (i686-pc-linux-gnu) compiled by GNU C version 3.4.4. GGC heuristics: --param ggc-min-expand=100 --param ggc-min-heapsize=131072 /mathworks/hub/Linux/glibc-2.3.2/i686/apps/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.4.4/../../../../i686-pc-linux-gnu/bin/as -V -Qy -o /tmp/validat1.o validat1.s GNU assembler version 2.15 (i686-pc-linux-gnu) using BFD version 2.15 -- Summary: Optimization stomps const, initialized local array Product: gcc Version: 3.4.4 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: normal Priority: P2 Component: c++ AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: cnewbold at mathworks dot com CC: gcc-bugs at gcc dot gnu dot org http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22129