Optimizing for Performance

The following table lists possible starting points for your optimization efforts.

If you are trying to...	Start with these topics or sections.
use performance analysis to begin the optimization process	Optimizing with Intel® Compilers Using a Performance Enhancement Methodology Intel® Performance Analysis Tools and Libraries Performance Enhancement Strategies
optimize for speed or a specific architecture	Enabling Automatic Optimizations Targeting IA-32 Architecture Processors Automatically Targeting IA-32 Architecture Processors for Run-time Performance Checking Targeting Itanium® Processors Automatically
use Interprocedural Optimization	Using IPO IPO for Large Programs Interprocedural Optimization (IPO) Quick Reference
create application profiles to help optimization	Profile an Application Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO) Quick Reference profmerge and proforder Tools PGO Tools Overview PGO API and environment variables
generate reports on compiler optimizations	Generating Reports Compiler Reports Quick Reference
create parallel programs or parallelize existing programs	Using Parallelism Automatic Vectorization Overview OpenMP* Support Overview Auto-parallelization Overview
optimize loops, arrays, and data layout	High-level Optimization (HLO) Overview Loop Unrolling Loop Unrolling Support
use language intrinsics, pragmas and directives, or run-time libraries to enhance application performance	Optimization Support Features Overview