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Faster Interrupts. Since HI-TECH C compilers know exactly which registers will be used for any interrupt, they can determine the context size dynamically, based on the state of the program at the time of compilation. Code generated by OCG compilers may not need to save any registers during an interrupt routine, thereby saving cycles that are wasted by non-OCG compilers. Fewer instruction cycles means the MCU can spend more time in sleep mode.

Unused Variables. The all-seeing nature of OCG enables the compiler to determine if a variable is being used in the program. Unused variables are removed, thus saving RAM.

Auto Variables. If two functions are never active at the same time, their auto variables can be overlapped. The function call graph that OCG constructs means that the exact usage of the functions is known and this technique can be effectively applied.

Registers. The compiler will also know exactly which registers are in both interrupt and mainline context, so it can generate code accordingly, minimizing both the code size and cycles required to switch contexts.

Automatic Bank Management. OCG allows automatic allocation of data into RAM banks eliminating the need for the programmer to specify the location of the variables.

Customized printf. OCG has the ability to generate a printf function that is customized for the program at hand. It does this by scanning the user’s code and only includes those features of printf that were detected. This results in a huge saving in program memory but also saves you valuable RAM space.

Operation. Most embedded C compilers require special linker scripts and numerous command line options to be used to cater for differing device architectures. With full knowledge of the device and the ability to determine where all objects will be linked, much of this work is reduced or eliminated with HI-TECH C compilers.

Eliminates the Need for Memory Space Qualifiers. Because the compiler knows how frequently each variable is used and which variables are dependent, it can optimize pointers and position objects in the most efficient memory spaces, eliminating the need for the programmer to do this manually with non-standard C language extensions.

Debugging with Optimizations. Since a lot more of the optimizations are performed at the C level, rather than at the assembly or linker level, HI-TECH C PRO compilers allows more comprehensive debugging of code, even with the optimizations turned on. As a rule, code compiled with full optimization can be difficult or impossible to debug, making it very difficult to identify bugs that may be causing the system to function incorrectly. The OCG compiler automatically preserves all the relationships between the object code and the original C-code, enabling the quick and simple debugging of optimized code. Even C library code in your project can be debugged at the source level.