Mapping symbols: rethinking for efficiency

In object files, certain code patterns embed data within instructions or transitions occur between instruction sets. This can create hurdles for disassemblers, which might misinterpret data as code, resulting in inaccurate output. Furthermore, code written for one instruction set could be incorrectly disassembled as another. To address these issues, some architectures (Arm, C-SKY, NDS32, RISC-V, etc) define mapping symbols to explicitly denote state transition. Let's explore this concept using an AArch32 code example:

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Integrated assembler improvements in LLVM 19

Within the LLVM project, MC is a library responsible for handling assembly, disassembly, and object file formats. Intro to the LLVM MC Project, which was written back in 2010, remains a good source to understand the high-level structures.

In the latest release cycle, substantial effort has been dedicated to refining MC's internal representation for improved performance and readability. These changes have decreased compile time significantly. This blog post will delve into the details, providing insights into the specific changes.

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Understanding orphan sections

GNU ld's output section layout is determined by a linker script, which can be either internal (default) or external (specified with -T or -dT). Within the linker script, SECTIONS commands define how input sections are mapped into output sections.

Input sections not explicitly placed by SECTIONS commands are termed "orphan sections".

Orphan sections are sections present in the input files which are not explicitly placed into the output file by the linker script. The linker will still copy these sections into the output file by either finding, or creating a suitable output section in which to place the orphaned input section.

GNU ld's default behavior is to create output sections to hold these orphan sections and insert these output sections into appropriate places.

Orphan section placement is crucial because GNU ld's built-in linker scripts, while understanding common sections like .text/.rodata/.data, are unaware of custom sections. These custom sections should still be included in the final output file.

  • Grouping: Orphan input sections are grouped into orphan output sections that share the same name.
  • Placement: These grouped orphan output sections are then inserted into the output sections defined in the linker script. They are placed near similar sections to minimize the number of PT_LOAD segments needed.

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Evolution of the ELF object file format

The ELF object file format is adopted by many UNIX-like operating systems. While I've previously delved into the control structures of ELF and its predecessors, tracing the historical evolution of ELF and its relationship with the System V ABI can be interesting in itself.

The format consists of the generic specification, processor-specific specifications, and OS-specific specifications. Three key documents often surface when searching for the generic specification:

The TIS specification breaks ELF into the generic specification, a processor-specific specification (x86), and an OS-specific specification (System V Release 4). However, it has not been updated since 1995. The Solaris guide, though well-written, includes Solaris-specific extensions not applicable to Linux and *BSD. This leaves us primarily with the System V ABI hosted on www.sco.com, which dedicates Chapters 4 and 5 to the ELF format.

Let's trace the ELF history to understand its relationship with the System V ABI.

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Clang's -O0 output: branch displacement and size increase

tl;dr Clang 19 will remove the -mrelax-all default at -O0, significantly decreasing the text section size for x86.

Span-dependent instructions

In assembly languages, some instructions with an immediate operand can be encoded in two (or more) forms with different sizes. On x86-64, a direct JMP/JCC can be encoded either in 2 bytes with a 8-bit relative offset or 6 bytes with a 32-bit relative offset. A short jump is preferred because it takes less space. However, when the target of the jump is too far away (out of range for a 8-bit relative offset), a near jump must be used.

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ja foo    # jump short if above, 77 <rel8>
ja foo    # jump near if above, 0f 87 <rel32>
.nops 126
foo: ret

A 1978 paper by Thomas G. Szymanski ("Assembling Code for Machines with Span-Dependent Instructions") used the term "span-dependent instructions" to refer to such instructions with short and long forms. Assemblers grapple with the challenge of choosing the optimal size for these instructions, often referred to as the "branch displacement problem" since branches are the most common type. A good resource for understanding Szymanski's work is Assembling Span-Dependent Instructions.

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When QOI meets XZ

QOI, the Quite OK Image format, has been gaining in popularity. Chris Wellons offers a great analysis.

QOI's key advantages is its simplicity. Being a byte-oriented format without entropy encoding, it can be further compressed with generic data compression programs like LZ4, XZ, and zstd. PNG, on the other hand, uses DEFLATE compression internally and is typically resistant to further compression. By applying a stronger compression algorithm on QOI output, you can often achieve a smaller file size compared to PNG.

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A compact section header table for ELF

ELF's design emphasizes natural size and alignment guidelines for its control structures. However, this approach has substantial size drawbacks.

In a release build of llvm-project (-O3 -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections, the section header tables occupy 13.4% of the .o file size.

I propose an alternative section header table format that is signaled by e_shentsize == 0 in the ELF header. e_shentsize == sizeof(Elf64_Shdr) (or the 32-bit counterpart) selects the traditional section header table format.

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